The Post-Mor tern 



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Daniel S. R^emsen 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



POST-MORTEM USE 
OF WEALTH 

INCLUDING A CONSIDERATION OF 
ANTE-MORTEM GIFTS 



LEGAL POINT OF VIEW 

BY 

DANIEL S. REMSEN 

OF THE NEW YORK BAR 

AUTHOR OF " THE PREPARATION AND CONTEST OF WILLS," 
" INTESTATE SUCCESSION IN NEW YORK," ETC. 



ETHICAL POINT OF VIEW 

BY 



FELIX ABLER 
CHARLES F. AKED 
JAMES J. FOX 
DAVID H. GREER 



NEWELL DWIGHT HILLIS 
F. DE SOLA MENDES 
HENRY W. WARREN 
DAVID G. WYLIE 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK AND LONDON 
Q;be IRnicftcrbocftec ipcces 

1911 






Copyright, igii 

BY 

DANIEL S. REMSEN, 



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S)eDicated 

TO 

THE MEMORY OF MY PARENTS 



PREFACE 

This book is designed to aid persons of 
large or small means to formulate plans for a 
wise use of their property after death. To 
such as possess a surplus not required for the 
use of their families, it will be found of service 
also in planning a judicious use of wealth 
which shall begin during life and continue 
after death. 

As every plan for such use of property 
should be considered from two points of view, 
the book is divided into two parts. The first 
concerns what the possessor of property can 
do by means of a will or other instrtiment. 
The second concerns what he should do. 

Being much interested in the legal aspect 
of the questions presented, and noting their 
economic importance, I have undertaken to 
set down a few guiding principles from that 
standpoint. In this work I have had the 



vi Preface 

assistance of my son, Allen H. Remsen, a 
student of this branch of the law. From the 
ethical point of view it seemed more fitting 
for others to speak. 

I have been exceptionally fortunate in secur- 
ing the co-operation of the eminent teachers 
of ethics whose names are connected with 
their several contributions. In this way, the 
subject is dealt with from different points 
of view and in a manner that cannot fail to 
be both interesting and helpful. I had 
hoped to secure an expression of opinion from 
Cardinal Gibbons, but owing to the pressure 
of other matters he could not find the time 
to prepare a paper. His point of view, how- 
ever, is expressed in the following extract from 
his letter: 

''Whilst a person should, of course, see that 
the members of his or her family are provided 
for, as charity begins at home, still, every one 
should set aside a certain amount which 
should be for the benefit of his unfortunate 
brethren, and thus a certain amount should 
always be devoted to charity." 



Preface vii 

Should this volume tend to encourage the 
living to give more serious thought to a most 
important subject, and aid them in planning 
a disposal of their property in a manner more 
beneficial to posterity, it will be a source of 
gratification to the writers who have con- 
tributed to these pages. 

D. S. R. 

New York, March, 191 1. 



Chapter 



Page 



CONTENTS 

PART I 

LEGAL POINT OF VIEW 

I. The Power of Wealth after Death 3 

11. Ownership, a Trust ... 8 

III. Power Over Property Limited . 11 

IV. Transmission of Property . . 18 
V. Planning Transmission . .21 

VI. Plans for Family and Friends . 25 

VII. Plans for the Public ... 31 

VIII. Plans Combining Public and Pri- 
vate Purposes ... 40 

IX. Usual Objects of Bounty . . 44 

X. Preservation of Family Harmony 49 

XI. Property to be Transmitted . 51 

XII. Character of Gifts ... 54 

XIII. Selection of Charitable Objects . 58 

ix 



X Contents 

Chapter Page 

XIV. Taxation of Estates ... 67 

XV. Selection of '.Executors and Trus- 
tees ..... 73 

XVI. Instrument of Disposition . .76 

XVII. Insurance of Wills ... 82 

XVIII. Procrastination, an Unmixed Evil 84 

PART II 

ETHICAL POINT OF VIEW 

I. Principles which should Govern 
THE Making of Bequests for 
Philanthropic Purposes . 89 

By FELIX ABLER 

II. The Ethical Justification of an 

Inheritance Tax ... 94 
By CHARLES F. AKED 

III. Ethical Obligations of the Tes- 

tator .... 99 

By JAMES J. FOX 

IV. Charity and Religion . . . 104 

By DAVID H. GREER 

V. The Hypnotic Power OF Wealth . 108 
By NEWELL DWIGHT HILLIS 



Contents xi 

Chapter Page 

VI. A Benefaction Preliminary to All 

Others . . . . .112 

By F. DE SOLA MENDES 

VII. Prolonged Usefulness . .115 

By HENRY W. WARREN 

VIII. The Higher Law in the Use of 

Wealth . . . .119 

By DAVID G. WYLIE 



PART I 
Legal Point of View 



Note.— For convenience these pages are in form 
directed mainly to gifts after death; they 
are, nevertheless, generally applicable to 
gifts taking effect during life, and to small as 
well as to large estates. 



CHAPTER I 

THE POWER OF WEALTH AFTER DEATH 

The post-mortem power of wealth is that 
power which may be exerted after death 
through a disposition of property by its owner 
for the benefit of family, friends, and society. 
The character of that power depends upon 
the law of the land and the terms of the in- 
strument of disposition executed thereunder. 
The volume and extent of that power may or 
may not be in proportion to the size of the 
estate. 

By grace of the laws of civilisation a man 
is permitted to do certain acts in his lifetime 
which give direction to his property after his 
death. In thus permitting the hand of the 
dead to exercise dominion over property the 
laws of civilisation deal very fairly with both 

3 



4 Legal Point of View 

the living and the dead. There are, how- 
ever, limits beyond which dominion over 
property after death cannot extend, which 
limits determine the validity and invalidity 
of all wills, settlements, and similar instru- 
ments. Such limitations are well marked in 
the law, but they are not always well under- 
stood as is shown by the unfortunate amount 
of disastrous litigation concerning estates of 
deceased persons. 

With proper precaution there is no reason 
why any person of sound mind may not 
exercise an important dominion over his 
property after death. He may conserve his 
estate, direct its management, benefit the 
rising generation, avert litigation, and save 
his fortune from the blight of family discord. 
To this end he may make deeds of trust, 
declarations of trust, marriage or other settle- 
ments, a will, and the like. By means of one 
or more of these instruments the power of 
wealth after death may be made to tell for 
good or ill, depending upon the wisdom with 
which it is planned and the skill with which 



Power of Wealth after Death 5 

it is prepared. If wisely directed, wealth 
may become a most efficient force after death ; 
otherwise it may be a curse rather than a 
blessing. Like a dangerous explosive its 
value depends upon its use. 

Wealth puts its possessor in the position of 
"the man behind the gun.*' His purpose 
may be likened to the target, his plan to the 
gunner's aim, the law of the land to the pow- 
der, the property to the shot, and the will or 
other instrument to the gun. The power in 
both cases takes effect at the target, and its 
effectiveness depends on the gunner, the 
charge, and the gun. If the giver has the 
wealth and the inclination he may construct 
an instrument that will accomplish during 
life or after death any legal and practicable 
purpose. The purposes for which such use 
may be suggested are innumerable. Some are 
legal; others, illegal. Some are practicable; 
others, impracticable. What purposes are 
both legal and practicable necessarily de- 
pend upon various considerations. Aside, 
however, from the Rule against Perpetuities 



6 Legal Point of View 

and certain minor limitations depending upon 
domicile or location of real property, a person 
may dispose of his wealth so as to accom- 
plish during life or after death the purposes 
most near and dear to him. 

The importance of the study of the ways 
and means by which the power of wealth 
may be projected into the future for the 
benefit of mankind increases in proportion 
to the wealth of the community and the 
requirements of society. Such a study sug- 
gests many considerations both legal and 
ethical requiring sound judgment and absence 
of caprice. It suggests obligations to family 
and society. It suggests a distinction be- 
tween family requirements and surplus 
wealth. It suggests plans for public and 
private welfare. It suggests expedients for 
discouraging idleness and uselessness and for 
stimulating beneficiaries to activity in private 
life or public service. Indeed, such suggestions 
are capable of indefinite development and if 
properly worked into the plans of wills and 
kindred instruments, may be the turning point 



Power of Wealth after Death 7 

in the life of many a young man. Wealth 
can assure leisure to its sons and the greatest 
opportunities are thus open to it to encourage 
them in the performance of such distinguished 
services as will render their names an honour 
to their families, their benefactor, and their 
country. To insure leisure to one's descend- 
ants without a worthy object in life is often 
to insure disaster, but to spur on one's de- 
scendants to worthy deeds should be one of 
the greatest delights that can come to the 
possessor of wealth. To plan for the good 
of future generations is more than a pleasure, 
it is certainly a great privilege, it should be 
considered a duty. 



CHAPTER II 

OWNERSHIP, A TRUST 

Each generation may be said to be a trustee 
for the next. In a sense we hold our property 
in trust for our children, our grandchildren, 
and the public good. The duty is to admin- 
ister such property wisely during life, and 
after death to direct its disposition and use 
for the best interests of the living and of 
posterity yet unborn. 

No man can own property and be free from 
the obligations which ownership implies. Such 
obligations always exist but they vary accord- 
ing to circumstances of family and estate. In 
some jurisdictions their binding force is sub- 
ject to no tribunal except public opinion and 
the owner's conscience, while in others certain 
limitations are placed upon an owner's power 

over his property. 

8 



Ownership, a Trust 9 

Public opinion does not usually concern 
itself with the post-mortem transmission of 
property but it invariably passes judgment 
where an unique opportunity to benefit man- 
kind is presented by the possession of great 
surplus wealth. It also concerns itself where 
a man of small means, without sufficient 
reason, disinherits his own family and gives 
his property to strangers or to charity. 

The ethical side of the post-mortem use of 
wealth is not, in the main, for legal consider- 
ation. It is, generally speaking, an affair of 
the conscience. It is capable of furnishing 
many fitting themes for the pulpit, the moral 
teacher, and the essayist. In Part II, of 
this volume a few of such topics are discussed 
by ethical teachers of the highest standing. 

Truly this is an age unparalleled in history 
for its rapid changes in the sky lines of science, 
mechanics, morals, and finance. It is offering 
rare opportunities for the wise use of surplus 
wealth. 

Modern patriotism leads not to the slaugh- 
ter of enemies, but to the betterment of man- 



lo Legal Point of View 

kind; it leads to the devotion of personality, of 
money, or of both to the physical, mental, 
moral, and political development of the race. 
It means the doing of work that our Creator 
would have us do. It says to the passing 
generation, Let man be master and Mammon 
serve in life and after death. 



CHAPTER III 

POWER OVER PROPERTY LIMITED 

From very ancient times man has sought 
to extend his dominion over property after 
death. He has sought to unite his fortune 
to his family for all time. So varied have 
been the devices employed for the entailment 
of property and so subtle have been the argu- 
ments in their support that the history of 
perpetuities, so called, may be said to be the 
history of English jurisprudence. The firm 
stand taken by the courts in prescribing 
limitations on the owner's power over pro- 
perty after death resulted in what is known 
as the Rule against Perpetuities. The limits 
of that power over property and the basic 
principles of the rule were fairly well settled 

more than a century ago. 

II 



12 Legal Point of View 

In the latter part of the eighteenth century 
the Rule against Perpetuities played an im- 
portant part in a famous case involving the 
validity of the will of Peter Thellusson, a 
multi-millionaire merchant of London. In 
order to perpetuate his name he gave the 
principal part of his estate to trustees and 
directed the income to be accumulated and 
added to the capital and invested in lands 
during the lives of such of his sons and their 
descendants as should be living at the time 
of his death. On the death of the last sur- 
vivor he directed that his trust estate be 
divided and one part be then conveyed in tail 
male to the eldest living male lineal descendant 
of each of his three sons. Thus he deprived 
all living descendants of any use whatsoever 
of the bulk of his property. After one of the 
hardest fought legal battles on record this will 
was finally sustained. It resulted, however, 
in the subsequent passage by the EngHsh 
Parliament of what is known as the ''Thel- 
lusson Act," whereby the acctimulation of 
income is now limited in England to the 



Power over Property Limited 13 

minority of infants or the term of twenty-one 
years. 

In our time we have a notable but far less 
extreme example of the way in which property 
may be tied up and the income accumulated 
in the will of the late Marshall Field. If it 
were not for the enormous proportions of the 
estate it is doubtful if the plan of Mr. Field's 
will would have attracted any special atten- 
tion, much less criticism. It differs very 
materially from the Thellusson will which 
tied up the estate for many lives and under 
which no descendant living at the time of the 
testator's death could ever receive any part 
of the trust estate or any income therefrom. 
The only persons to be benefited were certain 
male descendants to be born after Thellusson's 
death. The Field will, on the other hand, 
ties up property only during the lives of two 
grandchildren with a possible additional period 
of twenty-one years. The accumulation of 
income begins to decrease when his grandsons 
attain the age of thirty years and ceases when 
they become forty-five. When the elder 



14 Legal Point of View 

grandson attains the age of fifty years each 
comes into possession and ownership of his 
portion of the estate. 

As the Common Law Rule against Per- 
petuities exists in Illinois, Marshall Field was 
at liberty to make substantially a duplicate 
of the Thellusson will. This same rule pre- 
vails quite generally throughout the United 
States and permits property to be tied up not 
longer than during the lives of any number 
of designated persons living at the time of 
the testator's death and twenty-one years 
after the death of the last survivor. In a 
number of States, however, the rule has been 
more or less modified by statute by cutting 
off the term of years, by limiting the number 
of lives, or by shortening the term of accumu- 
lation. In California, Idaho, Indiana, Mon- 
tana, and North and South Dakota the term 
of years has been eliminated; in New York, 
Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin the rule 
is limited to two lives; while in many States 
income cannot be accumulated except during 
the minority of a beneficiary. 



Power over Property Limited 15 

Other important limitations are found in 
some jurisdictions. Such, for example, are 
statutes of some States designed to prevent a 
husband or wife from willing away from the 
other or from their children more than a 
certain proportion of his or her property and 
in certain cases to prevent the giving of more 
than a specified portion to charities. 

Notwithstanding the numerous statutes 
against perpetuities in this cotintry, any 
person who carefully plans the transmission 
of his property can still by will or otherwise 
tie up his estate or a substantial portion of it 
and accumulate the income thereon during 
the lives of any number of living persons and 
twenty-one years after the death of the last 
survivor, perhaps a hundred years or more 
even as did Peter Thellusson. Such a result, 
however, must be deemed of sufficient im- 
portance to warrant the resort to somewhat 
unusual methods combined with exceptional 
precautions. Property may be thus tied up 
and income accumulated by persons domiciled 
in any State or country including residents, of 



i6 Legal Point of View 

New York, Louisiana, Great Britain or other 
foreign country, even those where trusts are not 
authorised by law. It must be remembered, 
however, that such an undertaking in most 
cases is exceedingly hazardous unless techni- 
cally correct in detail and should not be consid- 
ered except under exceptional circumstances. 
The recent unfortunate attempt of the late 
Henry B. Plant, a resident of New York, 
illustrates the folly of taking chances with the 
law against perpetuities. His testamentary 
scheme of creating a huge trust for the benefit 
of his descendants to continue for more than 
two lives in being was legally practicable, 
but the method he employed was ill advised 
and fatal. Indeed, the courts throughout 
the country are adjudging each year, on one 
ground or another, hundreds, if not thou- 
sands, of wills and codicils wholly or partly 
void as not being properly drawn with refer- 
ence to the law of accumulations, trusts, and 
perpetuities. ^ 

^ The wills or codicils of the following named persons are a 
few of those recently so adjudged in the City of New York 



Power over Property Limited 17 

alone: Maurice Ahern (trust void), James J. Alexandre (unlaw- 
ful accumulations), Rachael Almstaedt (trust void), Annie Jane 
Bills (execution of power of appointment void), Agnes Boerum 
(illegal suspension), Paul Sandstrom Brown (trust of residuary 
estate void), Valentin Bruchaeser (trust void), Elizabeth B. 
Caldwell (trusts void), Nathan Clark (certain trusts void), Amos 
Cotting (trust void), George W. Cummings (illegal suspension), 
Mary A. Edson (certain trust including a secret one void) , George 
Washington Egleston (unlawful accumulation), Georgia Fargo 
(execution of power of appointment void), Joseph Fisher (trust 
void), Peter Fuchs (trust void in part), James A. Garland (un- 
lawful accumulation), William T. Garner (unlawful accumula- 
tion), George Hagemeyer (trust provisions and power to sell 
real estate void) , Mary E. Henry (trust void) , Jesse Hoy t (un- 
lawful accumulations), George Jones (execution of power of 
appointment void), James W. Lawrence (trust void), Francis 
McCabe (trust void), J. Jennings McComb (certain trusts in 
will and provisions in codicil void), William Mulry (trust void), 
Maria Murray (execution of power of appointment void), August 
Roos (unlawful accumulation), Elijah T. Sherman (trust void), 
Joseph H. Snyder (unlawful accumulation). Christian F. T. 
Steinway (trust void), John Sullivan (unlawful accumulation), 
Samuel J. Tilden (gifts to charity void), Charles W. Trotter 
(certain trusts void) , George A. Trowbridge (trust of New York 
real estate void) , John Guy Vassar (gifts to charity void) , Edward 
Walker (trust void), David Wakeman (trust of New York real 
estate void), George Whitefield, Jr. (trust void), Samuel Wood 
(gifts to charity void) , Amos Woodruff (unlawful accumulation) , 
and Edward A. Wooley (trust void). 

In this connection it may also be interesting to note that the 
foundation for the Nobel Prizes might have met the fate of the 
Tilden Trust had not the executors of Dr. Nobel's will entered 
into "a deed of adjustment of interests" with his heirs. 

As to the preparation of wills and kindred instruments see 
p. 76 post. 



CHAPTER IV 

TRANSMISSION OF PROPERTY 

Whatever may be the possessions of man 
they cannot pass with him beyond the Styx. 
The owner of property cannot direct its use 
after death except by means of some instru- 
ment of disposition executed in his lifetime. 
Such instrimients are usually instruments of 
gift of which there are several classes. Those 
most commonly used are wills and deeds of 
trust or settlement. Under wills gifts take 
effect on the death of the testator or upon the 
happening of some subsequent event. Under 
trust deeds or settlements gifts may or may 
not take effect upon the execution of the in- 
strtmient. In one or more of these instru- 
ments the possessor of wealth may, within 
certain limits prescribed by law, insert pro- 

z8 



Transmission of Property 19 

visions designed to extend his dominion over 
his property after death. Which instniment 
is better to accomplish a particular purpose 
depends upon the circumstances of each 
case. Sometimes both are advisable. 

Where the owner does not wish his property, 
upon his death, to pass by the law of intestacy 
but rather desires to project its power into the 
future he has two courses open, (i) He 
may make conditional or restricted gifts, 
by will or otherwise, to persons or corpora- 
tions. Thus the giver may after death 
exercise power over his gift to his family or to 
a corporation by making it conditional or 
something less than absolute; as by establish- 
ing a trust or creating a power whereby the 
use of the property is prescribed or restricted. 
(2) He may make absolute gifts to corpora- 
tions organised for suitable purposes. Thus 
if he gives property to a corporation chartered 
for a special purpose he has the warrant of 
the law that his gift will be applied to that 
purpose. With these courses clearly in mind 
the possessor of wealth may well consider 



20 Legal Point of View 

the planning of a will or other instrument 
or the making of gifts during life which 
shall determine the use of his property after 
death. 



CHAPTER V 

PLANNING TRANSMISSION 

One of the important problems of life for 
the possessor of little or much is the proper 
transmission of property at or before death 
that the owner's obligations to his family 
and to society may be wisely and honourably 
discharged. 

What obligations the possessor of property 
may have to family and to society in the 
absence of positive law, must be determined 
by his own conscience. What may constitute 
a wise and honourable discharge of those 
obligations his own good judgment in the 
light of his conscience and the surrounding 
circumstances must determine. 

The uses of wealth after death are numer- 
ous. Such uses may be (i) ptirely private, as 

21 



22 Legal Point of View 

for the benefit of family and friends;^ they 
may be (2) purely public, as to promote some 
charitable object ;2 or they may be (3) mixed, 
as to promote both the public and family 
welfare.^ Whether the plan embraces one or 
more of these purposes, it should be specially 
adapted to the size and conditions of the 
estate concerned and the executors or trustees 
should be provided with ample powers to 
enable them to meet conditions and emergen- 
cies that may arise, in much the same manner 
as the deceased might have done if living. 

In planning the transmission of property 
the owner must take into account the extent 
and character of his possessions and the law 
of his domicile; if he owns real estate, he must 
consider the laws of the state or country where 
it is located. He must take into account the 
size of his family, their requirements, their 
relationship, whether wife, husband, children 
or more remote kindred, their sex, their char- 
acters and habits, if married the character 
and habits of their husbands or wives, their 

»Seep. 25. ; » See p. 31. , sSeep. 40. 



Planning Transmission 23 

ages if living or the possibility of their sub- 
sequent birth, the character of their education, 
experience, and business habits, and whether 
or not they are possessed of independent 
means or likely to be provided for by others. 
Besides these, special points of consideration 
frequently arise in consequence of second 
marriages and peculiar family circumstances. 

The owner of property must also bear in 
mind the character of gifts he wishes to make, 
whether they be of money or specific pro- 
perty, whether the gifts shall be absolute, con- 
ditional, or in trust, whether the use or the 
income shall be given for life or for a less 
term, and what shall become of the capital 
and accumulated income, if any, after the 
termination of the trust. 

In making his plan for the transmission of 
property the owner should not lose sight of 
the fact that many things expected or unex- 
pected may happen before his plan becomes 
effective. The amount or character of his 
property may materially change. His real 
estate may be more or less converted into 



24 Legal Point of View 

personal estate and vice versa. His stocks, 
bonds, mortgages, and other securities may- 
be paid off or otherwise changed in form. 
The value of his property may be very much 
greater or very much less; indeed, it may 
not be enough after the debts have been 
paid to pay the legacies. Then, too, unborn 
natural objects of bounty may come into 
being or one or more beneficiaries may die 
with or without leaving issue. There may 
be other family changes, immediate or remote, 
which are worthy of consideration. Even 
the owner's condition may so change that he 
may no longer be able to alter his plans to 
meet conditions as they arise. In short, all 
probabilities and possibilities must be taken 
into consideration and the instrument of 
transmission planned accordingly. 



CHAPTER VI 

PLANS FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS 

Plans for the benefit of family and friends 
are usually of the first importance and in a 
majority of cases they alone receive consid- 
eration. Persons of small means generally 
make absolute gifts of their property. Many 
give all to the surviving spouse as a means of 
providing for the family as a whole. Many 
divide their property among the different 
members of the family in equal or imequal 
portions, in some instances tying up certain 
shares to suit varying conditions. 

As estates become larger the tendency is 
greater to tie up property by making gifts 
which are not absolute. The law permits 
the giver to use a large discretion in this 
respect. He may make gifts which will 
take effect or terminate on the happening of 

25 



26 Legal Point of View 

specified events such as marriage, birth of 
issue, death without issue, death before a 
certain age, simultaneous death, survivorship, 
bankruptcy, disputing the testator^s will, or 
the like. He may give the use or the income 
of property for life or for a shorter term. He 
may pass the income from one person to 
another or he may authorise his trustees to 
do so. He may provide an income for his son, 
daughter, or other person without rendering 
his gift liable to the claims of creditors and by 
proper power of appointment may authorise 
his beneficiaries at death to distribute his 
property by will or otherwise. With all these 
possibilities and many others open to a person 
disposing of property he has an almost un- 
limited range within which to plan for the 
benefit of family and friends and he may 
incidentally retain a most important influence 
over his gifts. If possessed of ample means 
he can give effect to any legal and practicable 
purpose affecting those most near and dear 
to him. 
Among recent wills of wealthy men the 



Plans for Family 27 

plan of the will of the late Charles L. Tiffany 
is fairly typical so far as it provides for his 
family. To his wife he gives his residence, its 
furnishings, his horses, carriages, a substantial 
sum of money, and certain shares in Tiffany 
& Co. He also gives her the use of his 
country home and establishes a trust from 
which she is to receive the income during life 
and on her death he gives the capital to 
certain children. To each grandchild he 
gives a pecuniary legacy, the one bearing his 
name taking a double portion. To certain 
persons he forgives their indebtedness. The 
remainder of his estate he divides among his 
children in unequal shares. To some he 
makes his gifts absolute; for others he creates 
trusts during life. Under some trusts a child 
takes all the income; under others a child 
receives only so much of the income as the 
trustees think best, the excess passing to 
other persons. Under some trusts the trustees 
are given power to pay over the capital as 
well as the income. Any portion not thus 
paid over to a child during life passes after 



28 Legal Point of View 

death to his issue if any and if not to brothers 
and sisters, but in one case the issue of a 
particular marriage is not permitted to take. 
The Astor wills are interesting and import- 
ant documents dealing with large holdings of 
real estate in the City of New York. The 
original John Jacob Astor devised the bulk 
of his real estate to his son William B. for life 
with power to appoint the same by deed or 
will among his children and their issue. 
William B. on his death exercised this power 
largely in favour of his two sons, John Jacob 
and William. The greater part of his own 
estate he placed in trust for their benefit 
with gifts over to their issue. When these 
sons came to die John Jacob made an absolute 
gift of the bulk of his property to his son 
William Waldorf. William Astor followed 
more in the footsteps of his father and grand- 
father. He exercised various powers of ap- 
pointment, made numerous gifts, and created 
various trusts for certain of his children. He 
devised the residue of his estate in trust for 
the benefit of his son, John Jacob Astor, for 



Plans for Family 29 

life with power of appointment among his 
issue and failing issue over to others. 

The wills of John Carter Brown, John 
Nicholas Brown, and Harold Brown like the 
wills in most families have a family resem- 
blance. They deal with very large estates 
and guard very carefully the possible failure 
of issue and the death of issue before majority 
or vesting of the estate, with the result that 
if these great properties finally vest in a 
descendant they will probably continue to 
be compactly held. The Goelet wills dealing 
largely with real estate and the Vanderbilt 
wills dealing largely with personal property 
like many other wills of importance follow 
somewhat similar lines tending to the main- 
tenance and stability of family. 

Dr. Charles W. Eliot observes as one of 
the great disadvantages of the transmission 
of wealth in families "that the young men 
who inherit money often find life a terrible 
bore. It is that very class of people that 
oftenest ask Mallock's question, ' Is life worth 
living?' It is the people who do not have 



30 Legal Point of View 

to work for their own livelihood and that of 
their families who most frequently ask that 
question. ... It is your young fellow who 
has much money in the bank and more in 
bonds who doubts the worth of living. It is 
a miserable question to ask; the man who 
asks it is in a wretched, unnatural state of 
mind.'' 

The remedy for the difficulties which en- 
compass the problem of the transmission of 
great wealth within the family, as Dr. Eliot 
sees it, "is contained in the word service — 
in the desire and purpose to be of service." 
It lies "in setting up true ideals; in the 
recognition of wealth as a means, and not an 
end." To the stimulation of that desire and 
purpose the possessor of wealth may wisely 
give special attention when planning his in- 
strument of disposition. 



CHAPTER VII 

PLANS FOR THE PUBLIC 

Plans for the benefit of the public, while 
usually secondary, are often of great im- 
portance. A gift for a public purpose may 
take several forms. As heretofore indi- 
cated, such a gift may take the form of a 
trust for charitable uses or of an absolute or 
conditional gift. It may be given to a chari- 
table corporation already in existence or to 
one to be organised in order to receive the 
gift and to work out the donor's plan. 

The usual method is to make gifts for the 
purpose of sustaining existing institutions. 
In this manner Sally Thomas, a poor working 
woman, bequeathed $345.83, the savings of 
a long and laborious life, for foreign mis- 
sions, probably the first legacy ever given for 
that purpose. In like manner the late John 

31 



32 Legal Point of View 

S. Kennedy bequeathed millions for many 
charitable purposes. Such gifts may be given 
generally, without designation or restriction 
as to use; they may be given as applicable to 
the general use of the corporation, or they may 
be assigned to a specific purpose within the 
scope of the donee's powers. They are some- 
times coupled with a provision that the fund 
bear a designated name as a memorial, be 
retained as a permanent endowment and 
only the income used, or the like. 

When a satisfactory corporation does not 
exist the possessor of wealth may found a 
suitable institution during his life or may 
provide for its founding after his death. 
Such a course, however, should be pursued, 
only after the most mature consideration on 
the lines indicated in Chapter XIII on the 
selection of charitable objects. 

Foundations before death are quite popular 
at the present time. They are at their in- 
ception insured the benefit of the guiding 
hand of their founder and at the time of his 
death they are going concerns and ready to 



Plans for the Public 33 

receive any additional gifts he or others may 
choose to make to carry the work forward. 
This was the method pursued by Peter Cooper, 
W. W. Corcoran, Matthew Vassar, Johns 
Hopkins, Leland Stanford and wife, Charles 
Pratt, Enos Pratt, and many others. 

By certain recent foundation gifts of great 
sums of money, prominence has been given 
to what may be called the almoner or trustee 
type of charity. Such foundations are de- 
signed to provide means for research or other 
charitable purposes and in a greater or less 
degree to work through other agencies rather 
than to do charitable work at first hand. 
They are said to '* reveal a new force in civil- 
isation*' which seems to be growing in favour. 
Of these foundations we have as notable 
examples the General Education Board and 
the Rockefeller Foundation instituted by 
John D. Rockefeller, the Carnegie Institution 
of Washington and the Carnegie Foundation 
for the Advancement of Teaching by Andrew 
Carnegie, the Russell Sage Foundation by 
Mrs. Russell Sage, and some others. These 



34 Legal Point of View 

foundations are all corporations specially 
chartered to receive and administer funds for 
their respective chartered purposes. They 
have power to make investments and to ad- 
minister the income more or less in perpetuity 
as almoners. Thus for all time they are 
authorised to act as the agents of their found- 
ers and other contributors in distributing 
the income or principal for such charitable 
purposes as come within the scope of the 
broad and general terms of their charters. 
A similar result has been attained by the 
trust form of gift. The late George Peabody 
created the Peabody Fund and the late John 
F. Slater the fund long bearing his name 
by making gifts to trustees. The property 
given was in each case conveyed to certain 
individuals by a deed of trust defining the 
purposes of the gift and the powers and 
duties of the trustees and their successors. 
A similar result is sometimes attained by 
means of a will. 

The almoner form of charitable corpora- 
tion is created as other charities are created 



Plans for the Public 35 

and acquires property in the same man- 
ner: it requires no new form of gift. The 
difference between this charity and others lies 
only in the objects to be attained, that is, 
the purposes for which it may make use of its 
property. In other words if a donor wishes an 
almoner to do his deeds of charity he should 
direct his gifts into that channel; if he wishes 
to select his own charitable objects his course 
should be the usual one of making direct 
rather than indirect gifts. 

From the standpoint of many philanthropic 
persons, it is for various reasons desirable and 
often more practicable to provide for suitable 
foundations after death. This may be ac- 
complished in several ways by deed or by 
will, (i) A person may give his property to 
an existing corporation in trust for the foun- 
dation of an institution germane to its general 
corporate purposes. In this manner Stephen 
Girard gave property to the city of Phila- 
delphia in trust for the foundation and 
maintenance of Girard College. The late 
Ervin Saunders gave his residuary estate, in 



36 Legal Point of View 

memory of his father, to the city of Yonkers 
in trust for the fotindation and maintenance 
of a trades school as a part of the public 
school system. This gift was made con- 
ditional upon the city accepting the provisions 
of the will and furnishing a suitable site 
for the school. (2) A person may give his 
property to trustees with a gift over to a 
suitable corporation to be created after his 
death and within the period prescribed by 
law. This method was pursued by James H. 
Roosevelt, and resulted in the Roosevelt 
Hospital in the City of New York. The will 
of the late Samuel J. Tilden failed to meet the 
requirements of this form of gift by reason of 
the fact that under the limitation over to the 
Tilden Trust the gift did not necessarily vest, 
by force of the will, on the happening of the 
event, namely the incorporation of the Trust 
**with capacity to establish and maintain a 
free library and reading room in the City of 
New York.'' The corporation was to take 
nothing by virtue of the will. The estate 
was given to the trustees and the legal title 



Plans for the Public 37 

was to remain in them until by their dis- 
cretionary action, if ever, they should think 
best to convey it to the corporation. The 
unfortunate alternative provision was that, 
if for any cause or reason the trustees 
should deem it "inexpedient** thus to convey, 
they should apply the residuary estate **to 
such charitable, educational and scientific pur- 
poses," as in their judgment would make the 
estate ''most widely and substantially bene- 
ficial to the interest of mankind.** (3) Where 
the law of charitable uses prevails a person 
may by will give property to trustees without 
any direction as to incorporation upon a trust, 
more or less indefinite as to purposes and 
beneficiaries, for founding and maintaining 
the desired charity. This method, although 
inviting to litigation and in other respects 
objectionable, has been sustained by the 
courts from very ancient times in order to 
save to the public charitable gifts otherwise 
void, and to this fact many charities owe their 
existence. Among recent instances of this 
are the two great library foundations in 



38 Legal Point of View 

Chicago made by the wills of Walter L. New- 
berry and John Crerar both of which were 
subjects of litigation. In New York this 
method of making charitable bequests was 
made lawful by an act of the legislature after 
the failure of Governor Tilden's will. 

In some wills a combination of methods is 
found and various expedients are introduced 
to prevent failure of purpose. Thus Robert 
Richard Randall gave his farm on Broadway 
below Fourteenth Street in the City of New 
York to certain persons and their successors 
in trust to found and maintain what is known 
as the Sailors Snug Harbour, if they could 
do so legally, otherwise the gift was to go to a 
suitable institution to be incorporated by act 
of the legislature. If these gifts should fail 
and the property finally come to the testator's 
heirs, he provided that they should take the 
same charged with the trust for the foundation 
of his proposed public charity. In like 
manner the late Winfield S. Stratton of 
Colorado bequeathed the residue of his es- 
tate to trustees to found the ''Myron Strat- 



Plans for the Public 39 

ton Home'' in memory of his father, and in 
the event that the gift should be adjudged 
illegal or void he bequeathed the same to the 
State of Colorado for charitable purposes. 

The method by which the rich man can 
best benefit a community, says Andrew 
Carnegie in his Gospel of Wealth, *'is to place 
within its reach the ladders upon which the 
aspiring can rise." After the obligations of 
family have been discharged surely there can 
be no more commendable object for the use 
of wealth. 



CHAPTER VIII 

PLANS COMBINING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE 
PURPOSES 

Plans for the accomplishment of both 
public and private purposes are often found 
in wills and kindred instruments and their 
possible extension is worthy of consideration. 
Perhaps the most usual are those requiring a 
descendant or other beneficiary to perform 
certain acts or engage in some useful employ- 
ment in order to be benefited under the will. 

Thus the late Cecil Rhodes in his will de- 
clares that he feels "that it is the essence of a 
proper life that every man should during some 
substantial period thereof have some definite 
occupation," and that an expectant heir 
should not develop into a "loafer." He 
therefore in entailing his Dalham Hall estate 

provides for forfeiture on attempted sale by 

40 



Public and Private Purposes 41 

an heir of his interest in the estate or failure 
to engage in some profession or business other 
than that of the army for a period of at least 
ten years. With a similar motive the original 
John Jacob Astor devised the use of certain 
real estate to his grandsons for life and pro- 
vided that if his son, their father, "should 
consider either of them to have become un- 
worthy of this devise" he might convey the 
share of such one or more of them to the 
others, etc. 

The late William J. Gordon in benefiting 
the public by giving to the city of Cleveland 
his country seat known as ''Gordon Park'* 
provided that his burial plot therein should 
be maintained at public expense in as good 
condition as constructed and improved by 
himself or his executors. 

While the will of the late Russell Sage 
makes absolute gift of his residuary estate 
to his wife she is undoubtedly administering 
it in accordance with his wishes primarily for 
the benefit of the public. Such absolute gifts 
are frequently made by testators accompanied 



42 Legal Point of View 

by letters of request. Thus after willing his 
property to his wife the late Alexander T. 
Stewart left a letter requesting, in case his 
life should not be spared to complete his plans, 
that she make provision for certain proposed 
charities which he then had under consider- 
ation. Such a method, however, frequently 
fails. 

Matthew Vassar, the founder of Vassar 
College, in giving a certain fund to the Col- 
lege charged thereon the board and tuition of 
such of his female blood relatives as might 
wish to attend the College and of the daughters 
of a certain friend. 

I The will of the late Charles Pratt is a won- 
derful example of originality. Besides pro- 
viding an income for his children graduated, 
by the yearly addition of a certain sum to 
each, he makes provision for the Pratt In- 
stitute, a notable monument to a noble mind. 
Then in order to induce one of his sons to 
** continue as the recognised head of the 
faculty and give his time and energy to the 
development of the institution" and "as an 



Public and Private Purposes 43 

encouragement for him to continue in said 
work/' he provides for a certain increase in 
his son's salary each year, depending some- 
what on the success of the institution. 

Mr. Pratt recognised the efficiency of serv- 
ice **the desire and purpose to be of service.'' 
He utilised Dr. Eliot's remedy for the dangers 
of transmitting great wealth in families. 
His will is clearly the result of much study. 
It suggests possibilities along the line of which 
other possessors of wealth may encourage 
their sons so to live that an assured income 
and leisure shall not blight productive effort. 



CHAPTER IX 

USUAL OBJECTS OF BOUNTY 

The objects most near and dear to the 
average man or woman are his or her spouse, 
descendants, and ancestors. Then come de- 
pendents, collateral relations more or less 
according to degree of kinship, friends, and 
employees. 

In making testamentary provision for kin- 
dred the donor must be mindful that his 
legal obligations and duties may vary with his 
domicile or the location of his property. In 
some jurisdictions the wife is entitled to 
dower and the husband to courtesy or other 
rights independent of any will. Children and 
other descendants are also more or less pro- 
tected by statute in some States. Children 
born after a will is made, if not provided for or 
properly mentioned in the will, are frequently 

44 



Usual Objects of Bounty 45 

allowed to take as if no will had been made. 
In some jurisdictions a testator cannot en- 
tirely disinherit his children, except for cause, 
or will away from his family more than a 
certain part of his property or give more than 
a certain portion to charity. 

Where kindred are thus protected and are 
dissatisfied with the terms of a will there are 
several courses open to them. They may 
elect (i) to take under the will and thus con- 
sent to its provisions, (2) to take independ- 
ently of the will what the law may give, or 
(3) to contest the will, and if successful take 
as if no will had been made and if unsuccessful 
take under the will as if it had not been con- 
tested. To cope with such privileges success- 
fully and make the plan of the will workable 
whether or not the privileges are exercised 
often requires the most careful consideration 
on the part of the testator and his counsel. 
Special provisions must be conceived and 
framed to meet all possible contingencies. As 
far as may be they should also be aimed at 
the prevention or discouragement of litigation. 



46 Legal Point of View 

Where testators are not thus hampered by- 
statute they may make such gifts to their 
children and other descendants as may seem 
to them best or they may pass them by and 
give all property to others. Where, how- 
ever, antenuptial agreements or powers of 
appointment exist they must be taken into 
consideration. 

The status of an adopted child depends on 
local legislation. Statutes of adoption fre- 
quently, if not usually, provide that the 
adopted child shall have the rights of a child 
including the right of succession to property 
of the foster parent. Illegitimate children, 
however, usually do not inherit except from 
their mother. Their status is peculiarly un- 
fortunate and a proper provision for them 
requires great care. 

Gifts to friends and employees require no 
special mention more than to say that gifts 
to employees are frequently conditioned on 
employment for a longer or shorter period. 

Where a donor wishes to benefit a person 
without subjecting his gift to the management 



Usual Objects of Bounty 47 

and disposition of that person or to expose it 
to the claims of creditors, the gift must be 
something less than absolute. Such a desire 
would suggest trusts rather than annuities or 
other kinds of limited gift. 

The possible existence of infants would 
indicate guardianships or other testamentary- 
provisions for their protection. Except in 
certain jurisdictions where their rights to hold 
real estate depend upon treaty or statute, 
aliens are under no disability as to taking gifts 
of money or other property. 

Where a donor wishes to benefit a female 
he should consider whether it may not be 
of advantage to her either to create a trust 
for her benefit, possibly with power of ap- 
pointment, or to make his gift vest in her 
for her sole and separate use to the exclu- 
sion of the marital rights of any present or 
future husband. In some States and foreign 
countries the law insures to the husband on 
the death of the wife as much as one third or 
one half of her property and this right cannot 
be defeated by an ordinary will. Again, in 



48 Legal Point of View 

certain jurisdictions if the wife dies without 
a will the husband takes all the personal 
property even to the exclusion of children. 
Then, too, where the common law doctrine of 
the unity of person between the husband and 
wife has not been fully met by a married 
women's act the husband's rights in his 
wife's property during her life as well as her 
right to make a will without his consent may 
not always be clear. Consequently the form 
of a gift to a female requires special consider- 
ation. It also has a peculiar importance by 
reason of the fact that the husband has the 
legal right to change the domicile of his wife 
to a jurisdiction which may prove more 
favourable to himself. 



CHAPTER X 

PRESERVATION OF FAMILY HARMONY 

In planning the post-mortem disposition of 
property the donor can consider no more 
important feature of his task than the pre- 
servation of harmonious relations within his 
family. No rule can be stated as every donor 
has a different task from his neighbour. 
That difference lies not only in the amount 
and character of property to be disposed of, 
but also in the number, character, education, 
sex, moral sentiments, and personal peculiar- 
ities of heart and mind of the objects of 
bounty as well as their husbands, wives, and 
associates. 

Families are frequently split by the un- 
fortunate division of household and personal 
effects, especially where sentiment is attached 
to particular articles. Unwise selection of 

4 49 



50 Legal Point of View 

executors or trustees within the family may 
also be a source of friction. 

A serious source of discontent is found in 
discriminations made between relatives of 
the same degree of kinship. While this 
discontent is directed primarily against the 
giver, it has a certain reflex action among the 
donees particularly where undue influence is 
suggested or where no good reason for the 
discrimination is so self-evident as to carry 
conviction to a disappointed and unwilling 
mind. The most serious difficulties, however, 
arise from indifferently drawn instrimients 
affording opportunities for dispute as to 
meaning or legality and from home-made and 
stale wills and misfit codicils where the soil 
for disputes and litigation is peculiarly fertile. 



CHAPTER XI 

PROPERTY TO BE TRANSMITTED 

As a will does not become operative until 
the death of its maker, it can affect only such 
property as he may then own or over which 
he may have a power of disposition. The 
testator's plans, therefore, should embrace all 
equitable estates, contingent as well as vested 
interests, capable of passing as intestate 
property, all property which he may acquire 
after making his will, and all property over 
which he may have a power of appointment. 
Property held by the entirety or strictly in 
joint tenancy passes only by the will of the 
survivor. 

Besides considering his property in bulk, 
it is often important for the owner to make 
special plans affecting particular property 
such as his home, furniture, jewelry, clothing, 

51 



52 Legal Point of View 

business, cemetery plot, real estate subject to 
mortgage, personal property which is subject 
to a lien, franchises, insurance policies, com- 
munity property, property subject to appoint- 
ment, and the like. Thus he may have 
special plans in relation to the use and main- 
tenance of his cemetery plot; he may wish to 
make gifts of specific property, provide for 
the payment of mortgage or other debts 
out of particular funds, provide for the con- 
tinuance, winding up, or incorporation of his 
business, etc. 

Special powers affecting particular property 
may be important subjects of consideration. 
Thus, as affecting real estate, it may be 
desirable to give the executors or trustees 
power to sell, mortgage, exchange, or lease, 
to operate mines, to subdivide into lots, to 
destroy old buildings and erect new ones, and 
the like. As affecting stocks and bonds it 
may be deemed wise to provide powers touch- 
ing their retention as investments, voting 
thereon, corporate reorganisations, etc. In 
the hands of competent executors and trustees 



Property to be Transmitted 53 

broad and comprehensive powers are often 
of the greatest value to an estate particularly 
where it is involved or unusual situations are 
presented. 



CHAPTER XII 

CHARACTER OF GIFTS 

The character or form of gift is the key to 
the post-mortem power of wealth. It is the 
turning point between wisdom and folly in 
the transmission of property. It should be 
the direct consequence of a due consideration 
of the age, sex, character, habits, and associa- 
tions of the persons to be benefited. 

Thus an intelligent determination of the 
character or form of gift suggests many 
important questions. 

Shall the gift be of money or of a specific 
article or particular piece of property? If 
money is given, is its payment to be a charge 
against the real as well as the personal estate? 
What, if any, preference is to be given as to 
payment in case of a shortage in assets? 
Where a specific article or piece of property is 

54 



Character of Gifts 55 

to be given and the gift is not to take effect 
immediately as in the case of a will what, if 
anything, is to take its place, if at the proper 
time such property has been disposed of or 
cannot be found? 

If a gift is to carry with it the right of im- 
mediate possession or enjoyment shall it be 
absolute in character? Shall it be subject to 
a condition which must be performed before 
the gift can take effect? Shall it be subject 
to a condition which permits the gift to take 
effect under a penalty of possible forfeiture? 
In case of the breach or nonfulfilment of the 
condition, to whom shall the property pass? 
On what contingency shall the condition de- 
pend: marriage, birth, death without issue, 
death before a certain age, survivorship, bank- 
ruptcy, disputing or failing to dispute a will, 
et cetera? 

If a gift is to be to several persons is it to 
be for each separately or for all collectively? 
If for all are they to take as a class, as joint 
tenants, or as tenants in common? Shall 
after-born persons share with those previously 



56 Legal Point of View 

born? What provisions are desired as to 
survivorship or the prevention of lapse? In 
case of survivorship to what point of time is 
the survivorship to relate? 

If a gift is to a wife or other person having 
statutory rights shall it be in addition to or in 
lieu of dower or other such rights? 

If a use is given shall it be for life or for a 
less period? Shall the use carry the right of 
possession of the particular thing, or only a 
right to the income without the right of 
possession? Shall the use carry with it a 
right of disposal of the thing itself during life 
or after death? If the use is to be given 
through a trustee, shall the trustee possess a 
power to apply principal, as well as income? 

If a trust is intended, is the donor's purpose 
such that it may be lawfully accomplished? 
How long shall the trust continue and how 
shall it be terminated? Shall the income be 
paid over in gross or only after the usual 
deductions as for taxes, expenses, etc? From 
what time shall the income begin to accrue? 
Shall the income be subject to anticipation, to 



Character of Gifts 57 

assignment, or to attack by creditors? How 
shall the income be applied or paid over? 
What rights, if any, shall a wife and children 
of the beneficiary have in the income? In 
case there shall be an excess of income shall 
it be accumulated, and if not how shall it be 
applied? Finally, after the use terminates, 
what disposition is to be made of the property 
itself ? 

Since in the planning of gifts all these 
questions and many others must be deter- 
mined unconsciously if not consciously it is 
the part of wisdom and good stewardship to 
meet them squarely and to decide them 
intelligently. By so doing the possessor of 
wealth prevents his property from becoming 
a drifting derelict for the wrecking of char- 
acter and careers and converts it into a living 
force building for the good of the individual 
and of mankind. 



CHAPTER XIII 

SELECTION OF CHARITABLE OBJECTS 

Addison says *' charity is a virtue of the 
heart and not of the hands.'* This is true of 
lazy charity and is specially applicable to in- 
discriminate giving. Wise charity is an affair 
of heart, head, and hand for it implies an 
intelligent sympathy, a definite purpose, and 
a practical business sagacity acting in unison. 

So to give as to accomplish true charity 
during life or after death is often a most per- 
plexing question both to the possessor of 
wealth and to his legal adviser. Before one 
can intelligently act or advise in the selection 
of a charity he should take a general survey 
of the purposes toward which charitable gifts 
may be directed and the principles that should 
underlie such gifts. 

The main purpose of charitable gifts is to 

58 



Selection of Charitable Objects 59 

better the condition of man. The most potent 
force in that betterment is personality. The 
next most potent force is money, that great 
commander of the world's resources. And 
here lies the opportunity of wealth to unite 
potentiality and personality. The giver of 
personality makes the largest gift to mankind. 
His close second is the giver who furnishes the 
means whereby the giver of his personality 
may be made the more effective or whereby 
other givers of both personality and fortune 
may be raised up to carry on indefinitely the 
work of bettering the condition of man. 

Most fortunate is the man who can both 
contribute of his wealth and administer his 
charitable gifts in his Hfetime and most 
fortunate is the age and the community which 
possesses such men. 

The purposes for which money may be 
given in charity are in general well defined. 
They may be enumerated as educational 
advancement, moral, political, and physical 
improvement, and physical and financial 
relief. 



6o Legal Point of View 

Educational advancement is attained 
through manual training as by trades schools, 
art schools, sewing schools, cooking schools, 
and the like. It is attained through primary 
instruction as by kindergartens and primary 
schools. It is attained through secondary 
instruction as by high schools, academies, and 
preparatory schools. It is attained through 
higher education as by laboratory, college, 
and university. While the enlargement of 
the boundaries of human knowledge through 
research may not be strictly educational it is 
often carried on in our highest institutions of 
learning and is frequently so classified and 
regarded as the acme of higher education. 

Moral improvement is effected through 
moral and religious training as in churches, 
religious societies and orders, Christian asso- 
ciations, Bible societies, missions, settlements, 
clubs, societies for the promotion of temper- 
ance, the suppression of vice, the study of 
labour, and other social questions. 

Political improvement may be effected by 
means of gifts in aid of the study and pro- 



Selection of Charitable Objects 6i 

mulgation of legislative and administrative 
reforms as by the establishment of scholar- 
ships, lectureships, publication funds, and 
gifts to municipal and civic leagues, good 
government clubs, patriotic societies, societies 
for the development of better elective methods 
and kindred objects. 

Monuments, statues, conservatories, scholar- 
ships, fellowships, lectureships, libraries, read- 
ing rooms, museums, art galleries, and halls 
for public meetings administer to political 
and social betterment as well as to the pro- 
motion of education, morals, and religion. 

Physical relief is administered through 
societies designed to aid the needy, destitute, 
delinquent, neglected, defective, and sick, 
both young and old, through hospitals, 
asylums, homes, and lodging houses, and by 
furnishing employment, necessaries, medical 
services, burials, and the like. With these 
in a way may also be classed societies for 
preventing cruelty to children and to animals. 
Physical improvement is attained through 
parks, playgrounds, baths, athletics, and 



62 Legal Point of View 

societies for the improvement of living con- 
ditions and to render occupations more 
healthful. 

Financial relief is effected by temporary 
loans and by legal aid — ^most wholesome 
charities and great preventives of crime. 

Certain other benefactions have an ex- 
ceptionally broad scope and far reaching effect. 
Such are gifts of public parks, fountains, 
public baths, playgrounds, and for the bet- 
terment of living and labour conditions. 
Perhaps the most far reaching of all are 
corporations or foundations devoted to the 
establishment and maintenance of permanent 
funds from which the income is distributed 
among deserving educational or other charities. 

Akin to this class are also societies for the 
support of domestic and foreign missions 
which administer to the physical, mental, 
and moral welfare of man. 

Although the foregoing classification may 
be of service in some respects it must not be 
followed blindly. Each form of charity in 
greater or less degree partakes of some 



Selection of Charitable Objects 63 

other. The idea of education as it enters into 
charitable purposes is doubtless the largest 
and most fundamental. It is the basis of 
substantially all charity, save perhaps in some 
forms of distinctively relief work. No charity 
stands alone. Every charity affects others 
either directly or indirectly. Thus all charity 
has not only a primary, but also a secondary 
purpose which requires consideration. 

The fundamental ideas underlying wise 
charity are education and self-help, with re- 
lief and betterment of conditions as tempor- 
ary and contributing agencies. Relief which 
does not encourage self-help is pauperising 
and objectionable except in the case of very 
young children, incurables, and the aged, 
where it becomes merciful and Christian. 
Gifts for the betterment of the physical, 
mental, moral, political, and social condition 
of man are usually less open to the objection 
of pauperisation than gifts for physical or 
financial relief. 

Charities are corrective or preventive in 
their operation. From an investment point 



64 Legal Point of View 

of view preventive work appeals more strongly 
to the average giver but the sympathetic mind 
is moved more to aid in the relief of the 
unfortunate and in the uplift of the degraded. 
Be that as it may the variety in charitable 
purposes and their needs is so great that all 
givers should be able to find suitable objects 
of gift. 

With this wide range of charitable objects 
to choose from what considerations should 
move the mind of the giver in making his 
choice of objects to which he will give his 
service or his wealth? The first considera- 
tion should be the amount of time or money 
to be given, the second, the selection of the 
purpose which appeals most strongly to the 
conscience and good judgment of the giver. 

In determining these questions the giver 
has before him the claims of local as well as 
of national and international charities. He 
should also determine various other questions, 
as for example: Will the gift tend to pauper- 
isation or self-help? Is the institution wisely 
managed? Is it assured the active and dis- 



Selection of Charitable Objects 65 

interested co-operation of a numerous body 
of supporters? Is the gift likely to dry up 
the supporting generosity of the public? Is 
the necessity for such work likely to continue? 
Will the gift tend to an unwise duplication of 
effort or to strengthen worthy hands already 
at work? 

After the giver has decided on the charitable 
object he must determine whether his gift is / 
to contemplate: 



le 



(i) Expenditure of capital: 

(a) for general purposes 
(&) for special purposes such as 
to erect a dormitory 
to erect a hospital 
to buy land 

to buy books for library and the like 
(2) Permanent investment of capital (endowment) 
and expenditure of income only 

(a) for general purposes 

(b) for special purposes such as 

to buy books for library 

to maintain a kindergarten 

to maintain scholarships and the like. 

If the gift is to be memorial in nature 
various other matters will suggest themselves 
to the mind of the giver for his consideration. 



66 Legal Point of View 

While a careful consideration of all the 
points indicated may be a tedious under- 
taking and not necessary in the case of small 
gifts, where a life is to be devoted to philan- 
thropic work or where benefactions are to be 
large a careful study of the subject is an 
economic necessity. 



CHAPTER XIV 

TAXATION OF ESTATES 

Estates of deceased persons are in general 
subject to the usual annual taxes imposed 
on real and personal property. In a large 
majority of the States an inheritance or trans- 
fer tax is also imposed on property which 
passes at the death of the owner and in the 
greater number of such States the tax affects 
not only gifts to strangers and collateral 
relatives, but also to spouse and descendants. 
Even gifts made during life to take effect 
either in possession or enjoyment at or after 
the death of the giver are ordinarily taxable. 
Where, however, absolute gifts are made 
during life they are not usually taxable unless 
in law they amount to gifts made in con- 
templation of death, a question sometimes 

67 



68 Legal Point of View 

difficult for the courts to determine. Gifts 
to certain charities are often exempt. 

Where an inheritance tax is to be paid the 
donor should consider whether he may wish 
to have the payment made out of the particular 
gift or out of his general estate and make 
provision accordingly. 

The inheritance taxes in this country are 
taking on the graduated feature found in Eng- 
land. At the present time nearly one half of 
the States have adopted that method of taxa- 
tion. In six States the maximum is fifteen 
per cent. In New York as these pages go 
to press the maximum is twenty-five per cent^ 
with a fair prospect of a repeal of the pre- 
sent law and a return to the flat rate of 
one per cent on gifts to near relatives and 
five per cent on gifts to collateral relatives 
and strangers. 

Oklahoma's inheritance tax law is certainly 
unique. All inheritances and bequests above 
moderate exemptions are taxed from one to 
one hundred per cent depending on kinship 
and amount. The rates begin with one or 



Taxation of Estates 69 

five per cent on small sums and increase a 
fraction of one per cent on each additional one 
hundred dollars. As there is no limit to such 
increase it soon mounts up to one hundred 
per cent. The constitutionality of this law 
is yet to be tested. What makes it of general 
importance is the fact that investments within 
that State, including stock in local corpora- 
tions held by non-residents, are subject to this 
tax if held at the time of death. 

Death duties in England, in one form or 
another, have been growing since 1694 and 
recently, by the Finance Act of 1910, they 
have been again materially increased. Gifts 
passing on death are now taxed in the United 
Kingdom, one, five, or ten per centj according 
to kinship. Another tax is imposed upon the 
estate generally, and paid as an expense of 
administration. Its rate is graded according 
to the amount of property left by the de- 
ceased and ranges from one per cent on small 
estates to fifteen per cent on that part of an 
estate which is in excess of one million pounds. 
A further estate duty of two per cent is 



70 Legal Point of View 

collected, with certain exceptions, on settle- 
ments made by the will of the deceased or 
which pass by reason of his death. 

The question of the taxation of estates of 
deceased persons under present laws, to say 
nothing of new ones which may be enacted, 
warrants the most diligent attention of counsel 
and full consideration on the part of the owner 
before he can wisely make investments, select 
executors and trustees, or plan the disposition 
of any considerable estate. Where care is 
not exercised an inheritance tax on the same 
property is frequently collected in two different 
States or countries, thus producing a double 
taxation. Aside from Oklahoma such taxes 
under present laws affecting collaterals fre- 
quently amount to ten and sometimes fifteen 
per cent on small estates, while on large estates 
the rate may easily be as high as thirty or even 
thirty-six and one quarter per cent, particularly 
in the case of English estates invested in any 
one of six States, and more if invested in 
New York while the present law stands. 
Taxation of the same property in three 



Taxation of Estates 71 

jurisdictions, while possible under several 
statutes, is as yet comparatively infrequent. 
Conditions may be conceived, however, under 
which certain property may be subjected to 
inheritance taxes by the laws of four juris- 
diction. 

In addition to inheritance taxes the annual 
taxes on trust funds, in some instances, exceed 
one half of the income, and the courts have 
held that it is no part of the duty of an exe- 
cutor or trustee to attempt to benefit an estate 
by evading taxations. 

Under present tax laws the natural impulse 
is akin to that of self-preservation. Many 
persons consider themselves under a moral 
obligation, even at some personal sacrifice, to 
take advantage of such proper means as the 
law affords either to render their gifts non-tax- 
able or to reduce to a minimum a tax which 
they regard as unreasonable and unjust to 
the point of confiscation. Indeed the con- 
stitutions and the laws of this country are 
such that where the estate of a person of large 
wealth residing in this country or even in 



72 Legal Point of View 

England is burdened with excessive inheritance 
taxes or death duties it is only because he 
lacked inclination or was dilatory or care- 
less in the adjustment of his affairs or in the 
preparation of his will or other instrument 
disposing of his property. While Englishmen 
are under greater disadvantages in this re- 
spect than Americans yet even they by proper 
precautions at home and proper business 
relations with this country are able to share 
in the benefits of a constitutional government 
and thus relieve their estates of what would 
otherwise amount to enormous burdens of 
taxation. As all this is legally possible with- 
out changing one's residence and without 
resorting to any of the questionable or danger- 
ous expedients so frequently suggested, it 
seems safe to predict that unless the present 
death duties at home and abroad are sub- 
stantially reduced, owners of property will 
take advantage of all lawful means to reduce 
taxes until eventually a majority of large 
estates will on the death of their owners pass 
comparatively free from taxation. 



CHAPTER XV 

SELECTION OF EXECUTORS AND TRUSTEES 

The prime factors in determining the 
selection of executors and trustees to ad- 
minister an estate after death should be 
(i) safety and (2) efficiency. 

The method most often adopted to secure 
these qualities is to rely upon the character 
and financial standing of the persons appointed : 
a course which may be supplemented by 
requiring bonds to be given by individuals 
or surety companies. Another method is 
to appoint a trust company to act alone or 
jointly with one or more persons. 

Where individuals are selected, whether 
relatives, legal advisers, or friends, their in- 
tegrity, ability, personal and business habits 
and associations should be the subject of con- 
cern. Preference may well be given to a 

73 



74 Legal Point of View 

male rather than to a female, to the man who 
has no adverse interest, who is morally sound, 
whose family is not extravagant, who has a 
means of livelihood, who does not live beyond 
his means, who has good and regular business 
habits, who is moderately successful, who does 
not make speculation a business, who does not 
buy and sell on margin, who has a mind of 
his own but is not self-opinionated and who 
is free from prejudice, capable of discrimina- 
tion, sound in judgment, and considerate of 
the rights of others. 

Where there are no trusts, where the corpus 
of the estate is to be divided, and where family 
jealousies are not likely to be aroused there can 
be no objection to the selection of executors 
solely on the ground of interest or kinship. 
If, however, a trust is contemplated different 
considerations necessarily enter into the selec- 
tion of a trustee. Thus a beneficiary, whether 
a life-tenant or remainderman, is an unfit 
person in law and in fact by reason of interest. 
Near relatives are objectionable for the same 
reason and because they are ''less able to 



Selection of Executors and Trustees 75 

withstand the importunities of beneficiaries.*' 
In the same way, where a husband, wife, 
parent, or other near relative is appointed 
trustee such relationship ''is too often made 
an excuse for lax management, and the know- 
ledge that a breach of trust is likely to be 
condoned not infrequently leads to a disregard 
of strictly legal management which is the only 
safeguard of trust estates . ' * 

Where a trust company is selected, after 
giving due weight to capital, surplus, and 
reputation it is also proper to consider the 
personnel of the directors, officers, counsel, 
and employees who are to constitute the 
human agency through which it must act. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE INSTRUMENT OF DISPOSITION 

As the use to be made of property after death 
depends upon the instrument of disposition 
executed during Hfe, its character and the 
method of its preparation require a few words. 

We have seen in a preceding chapter that 
the instruments most commonly employed are 
wills and deeds of trust or settlement. The 
former take effect only at death and are 
subject to change diiring life. The latter are 
primarily designed for making gifts to take 
effect during life and may or may not be 
subject to change. In other respects the 
instrtiments are quite similar; the forms of 
gift which may be made under each are in 
general the same, as also are some of the 
limitations on the power of giving. For 
present purposes, therefore, it will be more 

76. 



The Instrument of Disposition 77 

convenient as well as more profitable not to 
attempt any further distinctions, but rather 
to direct our attention to the class of instru- 
ment most commonly used. 

The first requisite to a satisfactory trans- 
mission of property is a properly planned 
instrument. The second requisite is a pro- 
perly prepared instrument. The third re- 
quisite is the selection of proper executors 
and trustees. The first and third requisites 
are subjects of former chapters. The second 
requisite still remains. 

''While yet I am alive let my will be made 
safe and sound; for I cannot repair it after 
death." This is usually the burden on the 
mind of the prudent man desiring to provide 
for the proper transmission of his property, 
and thus to fulfil his obligations to his family 
and to society. 

Experience in the ante-mortem criticism of 
wills has shown that notwithstanding the 
obvious importance of such a writing about 
sixty per cent of wills drawn by lawyers con- 
tain some obscurity, flaw, or omission which 



78 Legal Point of View 

renders them, at least in some respects, unsafe 
or unsound. Among wills drawn by laymen 
the percentage of defective instruments is far 
greater 

The popular notion that nothing is m-ore 
simple than the preparation of a will is a 
fallacy. The fact is more accurately de- 
scribed by the words of Lord Coke, that: 
** Wills and the construction of them, do more 
perplex a man than any other learning.*' 
And as Professor Gray says: ''In no civilised 
country is the making of a will so delicate 
an operation and so likely to fail of success as 
in New York.'' 

There can be no doubt of the folly of a 
layman undertaking to draw a will. The 
only point on which there can be a fair dif- 
ference of opinion is as to the qualifications 
of a lawyer to whom the task may be com- 
mitted. On that point each person must 
judge for himself, remembering that in testa- 
mentary law, as in other branches of legal 
work, there are all grades of learning and 
experience from which to choose and that 



The Instrument of Disposition 79 

lawyers like laymen are human and not 
infallible. Warren in his Law Studies says 
that a lawyer who undertakes to act in the 
preparation of a will is ''bound morally as well 
as legally to possess a familiar and accurate 
practical knowledge of the leading rules 
applicable thereto/* He certainly is required 
to bring to his task the utmost good faith, 
due diligence, and a high sense of professional 
duty. Virgil M. Harris, an eminent writer 
on wills and lecturer on testamentary law in 
the St. Louis University, in a recent address 
said: 

It is a fact that not one lawyer in ten can properly 
construct a will, except it be of the simplest nature, 
unless his experience in this line of work has been 
extensive and he has seen the practical every- day 
results of errors and faulty composition. Accurate 
will-writing is an art which comes from practice and 
experience and requires, in most instances, a thor- 
ough knowledge of the law. One of the strangest 
facts in legal history is that a great number of eminent 
lawyers have constructed for themselves defective 
wills; it means nothing more, however, than that their 
abilities did not lie in the direction of will-writing. 

In preparing the most simple document 



8o Legal Point of View 

every person experiences difficulty in using 
the English language so as to convey his 
exact meaning beyond the possibility of a 
misunderstanding or double reading. In a 
will this difficulty is much increased. Most 
instruments are designed to take effect at the 
time they are written; not so in the case of a 
will. It does not become operative under 
conditions existing at the time it is made. 
It speaks only from death and must be made 
to fit the conditions that may then exist. In 
many cases it must also deal with circum^- 
stances of family and estate as they may arise 
from time to time after death during the lives 
of one or more persons. 

A forecast of all contingencies which may 
arise in family or estate is no easy matter and 
to. provide for them properly when foreseen 
is often a difficult task for the most skilful 
testamentary writers and the best lawyers 
sometimes differ on the legal propositions thus 
presented. Yet these are the problems which 
confront every person who undertakes the 
actual preparation of a will. Nevertheless 



The Instrument of Disposition 8i 

thousands of persons each year, with indif- 
ferent qualifications and unbounded con- 
fidence in their own abihty, rush in where 
persons of experience fear to tread. Thus 
is fed the ever swollen stream of wasteful, 
malignant, and interminable litigation con- 
cerning wills. 



CHAPTER XVII 

INSURANCE OF WILLS 

Unlike a deed or contract there is only one 
party to a will. It is therefore prepared from 
a single point of view and generally by one 
hand without the benefit of criticism from any 
adverse interest. After death, when it is too 
late to make the slightest change, it is for the 
first time subjected to the stress of scrutiny by 
others. From divergent points of interest with 
the greatest zeal, every possible ambiguity, 
flaw, or omission is then hunted out and the 
most is made of it.^ 

Some deem it wise, consequently, to indulge 
in a sort of insurance by requiring their legal 
adviser when drawing a will to submit to one 

^ For example the famous will of the late Mary Baker G. 
Eddy is at the present writing being subjected to this trying 
ordeal probably to be followed by litigation. 

82 



Insurance of Wills 83 

or more persons especially skilled in the pre- 
paration of such instruments a preliminary- 
draft, or after execution, a complete copy 
of the will for an independent ante-mortem 
interpretation and opinion. In this manner a 
will may be subjected to as searching and 
critical an examination before the death of its 
maker as it is likely to receive after his death. 
Such an examination and interpretation by 
experienced minds fresh to the task, if pro- 
perly done, should reveal any "weak spots'' 
that may exist or demonstrate their absence. 
Indeed, such a test of any existing will is a 
wise precaution. It is peculiarly important 
where wills are more or less stale, have one or 
more codicils, or where strife is likely to be 
instigated after death. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

PROCRASTINATION, AN UNMIXED EVIL 

It is unfortunate for persons even of small 
property to die without having set their 
worldly affairs in order. It is particularly 
unfortunate and a very common occurrence 
for persons of large means contemplating wise 
post-mortem uses of their fortunes to have 
their plans thwarted by untimely death. It 
is almost criminal for a man whose affairs are 
in an unsatisfactory condition to delay in 
making suitable provision for the post-mortem 
administration of his estate by committing it 
to proper hands provided with ample powers 
to meet such emergencies as may arise. 
Carelessness in such matters imposes un- 
necessary burdens and hardships. A few 
skilfully written words save much trouble 
and expense to the living, avert family 
disputes, and conserve the interests of all. 

84 



Procrastination, an Unmixed Evil 85 

At no period in the history of the world has 
preparedness for sudden death been more 
appropriate than the present. In addition 
to natural causes incident to the stress of 
modern business methods all means of public 
and private travel, by land and water, have 
been accelerated to the last degree and even 
mechanical flight is at hand. No one can 
travel by rail or on a public highway at the 
modern rate of speed, or even as a pedestrian 
cross some of our thoroughfares, without 
occasion for serious thought of family and 
estate. Such thoughts, however, are useless 
unless followed by action — ^prompt action 
leading to a safe and sound instrument and 
a quiet mind. 



PART II 

Ethical Point of View 



87 



Principles which should Govern the 
Making of Bequests for Philan- 
thropic Purposes 

By 

Felix Abler, Ph.D., 

Leader, The Society for Ethical Culture, of 
New York 

A FEW suggestions are here offered intended 
rather to stimulate thinking than to formulate 
precise rules. 

I . Gratitude toward persons or institutions 
that have exercised a markedly beneficent 
influence on one's own development: this 
point is too obvious to require elabora- 
tion. Gifts and bequests made to schools 
and colleges belong in this category. At the 
present day it may even be- desirable to issue 

a warning against the lavishing of favours 

89 



90 Ethical Point of View 

upon one's own college to the neglect of other 
institutions that perhaps are more in need 
and equally deserving. Partisan loyalty- 
should not obscure the claims of dispassionate 
philanthropy. 

2. Special interest in those who follow the 
same calling. Benefactions under this head 
would have for their object to enlarge the 
opportunities and to remove the kinds of 
distress peculiar to those whose work in life 
is the same as our own. Physicians, lawyers, 
clergymen, artists, merchants, teachers, etc., 
have a special obligation toward their col- 
leagues. Obligation corresponds to familiar- 
ity with needs: we know better the needs of 
persons in the same walk of life than those of 
outsiders ; we know in the former case exactly 
where the shoe is likely to pinch; we can, 
therefore, act more wisely in providing means 
of improvement and relief. The endowment 
of chairs for the teaching of subjects not yet 
included in the curriculum of professional 
schools or insufficiently emphasised, travelling 
fellowships, special loan funds, may be men- 



Felix Adler 91 

tioned as instances of what might be done in 
this direction. 

3. Concentration, or selection of some 
principal object of benefaction. The principal 
object should be a cause or movement cal- 
culated to produce the greatest possible good 
in the uplifting of mankind. Different objects 
would appeal to different minds: economic 
reform will commend itself to some; to others, 
the improvement of the system of education; 
to others, movements intended to promote the 
national health; to others, missionary propa- 
ganda, etc. It should be remembered, how- 
ever, that the individual, in selecting a special 
cause or causes to which he will leave a con- 
siderable portion of his wealth, is not morally 
free to follow mere prejudice or caprice, but 
that, regarding himself as the steward of a 
part of the capital of society, he is under 
obligation to seek earnestly for light and to 
select the channel into which to pour his gifts 
only after the most careful and disinterested 

investigation and reflection. 

4. Contributing one*s quota to the main- 



92 Ethical Point of View 

tenance of the ordinary charities or philan- 
thropies such as hospitals, institutions for 
orphan children, institutions which minister 
to the relief of the indigent, etc. Our civilisa- 
tion has not yet reached the stage in which 
we can truly affirm that no hum.an being is 
allowed to perish for want of the absolute 
necessaries of existence. Our municipal and 
state institutions are inadequate to cover the 
needs of the deserving; private philanthropy 
must step into the breach^ — and it is the 
duty of all who have the means to do so — 
to help in satisfying the primary needs of 
their fellows. 

It may not, perhaps, be superfluous or 
presumptuous to add the following brief 
counsels: Do not wait till the hour of death 
is at hand, but give, if possible, during your 
life so that you may participate in the ad- 
ministration of your benefactions and may 
receive the education, the increase of insight 
into social needs, which comes of such par- 
ticipation. 

Exercise foresight in providing for the sub- 



Felix Adler 93 

stantial fulfilment of your wishes, but do 
not impair the freedom of action of those 
who come after you. See to it that they 
carry out the spirit of your intentions, but 
do not impose the weight of the dead hand on 
posterity. 

Finally, in providing for children and those 
near of kin, be just to their higher interests 
as human beings, as well as to their material 
interests. Do not, therefore, by loading them 
with excessive wealth, exempt them from the 
salutary necessity to make good their place in 
society by independent efforts: leave them 
enough to put them into conditions which 
will enable them to deploy their energies to 
the best advantage, but do not paralyse the 
motives which prompt to the putting forth 
of energy. 



II 



The Ethical Justification of an 
Inheritance Tax 

By 
Charles F. Aked, D.D. 

Minister, Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, New York 

There is little doubt that the modern 
state will limit the power of bequest. Ob- 
jections based on theories of personal liberty, 
and practical objections based on law and 
constitution, will all be met bravely, resolutely, 
sanely. It is difficult to see that anything 
better on this subject could be said than has 
already been said by Mr. Andrew Carnegie. 
His Gospel of Wealth remains the classic upon 
the right of the community to take back 
part of the dead man's wealth for works of 
public service. Lawyers may for a time hold 

94 



Charles F. Aked 95 

that his proposals are unconstitutional and 
rich men's sons may talk about "spoliation" 
or ''confiscation'* or something else of the 
same character. But the good sense of future 
generations will find the way. 

In formulating the ethical justification of 
this action by the community, the facts of 
re-action and of inter-action must be borne 
in mind. We are one body. The enterprise, 
the courage, perhaps even the self-sacrifice 
and devotion of the rich man contributed 
much to the prosperity of the community. 
He could not build a railway without opening 
up a new country, creating new values, mak- 
ing many persons less poor and some rich. 
He could not invent, manufacture, transport 
on a large scale, or by his own labours accumu- 
late wealth in any way recognised as legitimate 
by the standards of our time, without serving 
a thousand interests besides his own. But, 
on the other hand, he could not have done 
it without the conscious and unconscious 
co-operation of the community. ''Unearned 
increment" much of his wealth, under any 



96 Ethical Point of View 

conceivable conditions, must remain — in- 
crease, that is to say, which has gone on by 
night and by day, through the natural growth 
of population, the development of city and 
country, and the movements of great masses of 
human beings obeying the laws of their growth. 
He is not to be blamed for taking advan- 
tage of these factors. On the contrary, 
in taking advantage of them he has served 
the material interests and perhaps the moral 
interests of the race. And he is entitled to the 
proper rewards of his industry and insight, his 
inventive skill or organising genius. Yet 
while it is right for the commimity to pay 
him or to allow him to pay himself, it does 
not follow that his son, or his son's son, or his 
sister, or his cousin, or his aunt, who has done 
nothing but arrange to get born under favour- 
able conditions and has made a prudent selec- 
tion of parents beforehand, is entitled to the 
same payment. The ''heir'' has done no- 
thing: why pay him on the same scale? And 
as part of the wealth had to be contributed, 
in the nature of the case, by the social organism 



Charles F. Aked 97 

whether the community willed it or not, now 
that the nature of the case permits a redis- 
tribution, the community is entitled to de- 
mand a share of the wealth it created. 

In a word: there are two parties to the 
accumulation of that wealth, the man and 
society. The man has had the enjoyment 
of it, society hitherto assenting. The ''heir" 
has had nothing to do with the creation of it, 
and society is entitled to take back at least 
a part of that which it created. 

It should be added that in many cases this 
loss will be a great gain to the ''heir.'* He 
will not be the loser by it. He may be a 
better man and a stronger man because he 
is his own man as God made him and not 
merely his great-grandfather's great-grandson. 
He is not to be envied if inherited wealth 
makes of him an effeminate creature, idle, 
luxurious, vicious; nor to be pitied if, losing 
millions, he finds his manhood. On such a 
view society is entitled to protect itself against 
him and the like of him. It is not good for 
America to produce in the homes of the rich 



98 Ethical Point of View 

an aristocracy of wealth imitating the char- 
acteristic vices of the European aristocracies, 
in the hoiir when they are imitating the 
characteristic vices of the Renaissance. A 
severely progressive inheritance tax might 
tend to diminish the ^Vine, women, and song'* 
type of life — but it might add to the nimiber 
of good men in the world. 

New York, March i, 19 ii 



Ill 

Ethical Obligations of the Testator 

By 
James J. Fox, D.D. 

Professor of Ethics in the Catholic University 
of America 

The right of disposing of one's property is 
looked upon by Catholic moralists as the 
complement or crown of the right of private 
ownership; and consistently with their un- 
compromising defence of the right of property 
they advocate the largest reasonable liberty 
for the possessor who is making his will. But 
because this latter right springs from the right 
of ownership, it is evidently subject to those 
limitations which restrict that of ownership. 
Hence to determine what obligations are 
incumbent on a testator we have to recall 

99 



100 Ethical Point of View 

what are the restrictions which limit his right 
as owner or proprietor. 

Now Catholic ethical teaching has never 
tolerated the theory that the owner may do 
absolutely as he pleases with his own; it is 
one thing to possess property, another thing 
to use it as one wills. We do not acknow- 
ledge the jus abutendi. Although the owner's 
right is full and complete as against his fellows, 
yet, with respect to God, who alone is absolute 
Proprietor, his right is but one of stewardship 
or administration. He is, in the first place, 
obliged to support his family in a manner 
suitable to their condition; and this obliga- 
tion bears not only on his administration of 
his goods during life, but it also extends to his 
testamentary disposals. In the well known 
encyclical on the conditions of the working 
classes Leo XIII has succinctly expounded 
this duty and the reason for it: 

It is a most sacred law of nature that a father 
should provide food and all necessaries for those whom 
he has begotten ; and similarly nature dictates that a 
man's children, who carry on, so to speak, and con- 



James J. Fox loi 

tinue his own personality, should be by him provided 
with all that is needful to keep themselves honour- 
ably from want and misery amid the uncertainties of 
this mortal life. In no other way can a father effect 
this except by the ownership of lucrative property 
which he can transmit to his children by inheritance. 

But, let us suppose that having made 
adequate provision for his family and for all 
other private claims upon him, whether they 
arise from strict justice or be of a less rigorous 
character such as spring from friendship, 
gratitude, generosity towards those who have 
served him, etc., a testator still has a surplus 
to dispose of. May he do what he pleases 
with it, or even follow no guide but caprice 
in the matter? To answer this question we 
must again recall the restrictions upon the 
right of ownership ; and here, too, the principles 
have been adequately expressed by Leo XIII 
in the document already quoted. 

Man should not consider his outward possessions 
as his own, but as common to all so as to share them 
without hesitation when others are in need. When 
what necessity demands has been supplied and one's 
standing fairly taken thought for, it becomes a duty, 
not of justice (except in extreme cases), to give to 



102 Ethical Point of View 

the indigent out of what remains over. It is a duty 
not of justice, but of Christian charity, a duty not 
enforced by human law; but the laws of men must 
yield to the laws and judgments of Christ the true 
God who in many places urges on His followers the 
practice of almsgiving. 

After quoting the well known Gospel texts 
relative to the matter the Pontiff sums up : 

Whoever has received from the divine bounty a 
large share of temporal blessings, whether they be 
external and corporeal, or gifts of the mind, has re- 
ceived them for the perfection of his own nature, and 
at the same time that he may employ them as the 
steward of Providence for the benefit of others. 

The Gospel term almsgiving is to be in- 
terpreted largely and with reference to the 
social conditions in which we live. The relief 
of suffering and indigence was during the 
time of Christ almost the only general way in 
which paternal benevolence could find a field 
for practical beneficence. So Christ when 
urging the duty of fruitful brotherly love 
points out almsgiving as the channel which 
its activity is to take. Evidently, however, 
the spirit which prompts almsgiving and 



James J. Fox 103 

other means of relieving actual distress or 
suffering is also satisfied by the devotion of 
superfluous wealth to such purposes as have 
for their object the reformation of social in- 
stitutions, conditions, or morals, which are the 
widely active causes of much poverty and 
suffering. 



IV 

Charity and Religion 

By 

David H. Greer 

Bishop of New York 

What is true charity? Not the gift of a 
dole or an alms; that form of charity is fast 
becoming obsolete. True charity consists in 
the gift of one's self. No man can reach the 
full stature of his personality except through 
others. Living alone and standing apart 
from others, he can never show what he is, 
but only what he is not. The people about 
us to-day are not really other people, they are 
ourselves, in whom we become alive, and 
reach and find ourselves; and in whose fea- 
tures, masked and disguised by suffering, 

need and ignorance, foolishness and want, 

104 



David H. Greer 105 

we shall find, as the mask is lifted, the features 
of ourselves. 

Then again charity is religion, or the 
handmaid of religion. ReHgion and charity 
have always been associated. Charity is 
the offspring of religion and of the Christian 
religion in particular. This is not a theologi- 
cal statement, open to question; it is a state- 
ment of fact, which every student of history 
knows and is famiHar with. For while it is 
true, as Mr. Lecky tells us, that a few pagan 
examples of charity have indeed descended 
to us, it is also true that they are exceptional 
and few, and that when Christianity appeared 
charity became the rule, and was regarded, 
at least by the Christian world, as a "rudi- 
mentary virtue. ' ' The motive which inspired 
this early Christian charity was not always, 
as is sometimes alleged, the hope of winning 
another world. That may have entered into 
the motive, and doubtless did a little. For 
motives, even the best, are sometimes mixed 
and alloyed with personal considerations. 
But the motive which inspired charitable 



io6 Ethical Point of View 

ministrations in the early Christian world 
was in the main the impulse and the desire 
to minister to human life, because it was 
himian life which Jesus Christ had declared 
to be, even in its poorest and most degraded 
forms, of such transcendent worth. 

It has been said that the great social 
struggle of to-day is between the "haves** 
and the "have nots/' Mr. Benjamin Kidd, 
however, has pointed out that that is not the 
case, but that it is between the selfish "haves'* 
and the unselfish "haves." That is where 
the battle line is drawn. Those are the 
persons who are fighting the battle out for 
the redemption of modern society. There are 
many conspicuous examples upon the better 
side: men of great possessions, who realise 
their great and exceptional opportunities for 
usefulness and who are trying as best they 
can to meet them. But the consciousness 
of any kind of gift, physical gift, mental 
gift, the gift of money endowment, brings 
always, I think, great temptations with it. 
The man who has within him a power which 



David H. Greer 107 

lifts him up above his fellow men will see 
more things to do, not only good but bad, not 
only right but wrong, than they can possibly 
see, and he will be tempted to do them. He 
may not yield to the temptation , but he sees 
it, and will flush and burn with it at times. 
The consciousness of his power, of his gift, 
will have the effect to drive him into the 
wilderness of integrity and virtue and purity, 
struggling with the evil voices. Neverthe- 
less there are many men of very large and 
important affairs who are modest, simple- 
minded, and unassuming, caring most of all, 
not for worldly honours or worldly decorations 
and flatteries which people are always ready 
to give them, but for the sanction of their 
conscience and the approval of their God, to 
Whom they feel they must give an account 
at the last of the great and important trusts 
which have been committed to them. 



V 

The Hypnotic Power of Wealth 

By 
Newell Dwight Hillis, D.D., Lit. D. 

Pastor, Plymouth Church, Brooklyn 

Our country now has one hundred millions 

of people and one hundred and thirty billions 

of property. In 1650 we had twenty -five 

thousand people, living on the edge of the 

forest. This means that in two hundred and 

fifty years our population has multiplied four 

thousand times. Suppose now that in the 

next two hundred and fifty years we increase 

not four thousand times, but only four times, 

we would then have a population of four 

hundred millions. But our wealth has grown 

far more rapidly than our population. One 

hundred and thirty billions expressed in terms 

108 



Newell Dwight Hillis 109 

of pastures, meadows, harvests, forests, mines, 
herds, flocks, towns, and cities, represents a 
sum almost immeasurable. As yet we have 
but scratched the surface of the soil. This 
year we will during twelve months produce 
fifteen billions of dollars through harvests, 
manufacturing, and shipping. The best finan- 
cial experts tell us that we are soon to have 
five hundred billions. The streams of wealth 
are coming in like a flood. 

One of the results of this flood of wealth is 
the choking of the ideal, and the smothering 
of the great convictions of the fathers. As 
never before wealth is proving its hypnotic 
power. Our sons and daughters are being 
charmed by the glitter of dollars as young 
sparrows by the glitter of snakes' eyes. 
Wealth that was intended as the almoner of 
bounty toward the home, the school, the 
library, the gallery, the reform, the church, is 
becoming an end in itself. Multitudes are 
living toward rich foods, soft raiment, and 
gorgeous equipage. As property increases, 
some men decay. 



no Ethical Point of View 

That food is ours that can be digested — no 
more. At the peril of life itself man eats 
more stalled ox, drinks more wine than he can 
digest; the excess is poison. That property- 
is ours that we can digest, use, and convert 
into terms of personal life and social service. 
The man who is rich on the outside and poor 
on the inside is a pauper by way of pre- 
eminence. 

The great question of the hour is, how shall 
men administer their wealth — ^before death, 
by making every guinea serve their fellows- — 
after death, by directing it into the channels 
that enrich the state, and nourish democracy, 
morality, and the highest manhood? The 
death of a multi-millionaire in the West, who 
recently left a hundred millions in such a way 
as to build up his name, and who, on the 
publication of his will, received only criticism 
and shame, until those who honoured and 
loved him are always now on the defensive, 
offers warning and even suggests terror and 
alarm to men who hoard here, and have not 
made their gold to serve their fellows hereafter. 



Newell Dwight Hillis iii 

That man is a benefactor of the republic who 
can show the millionaire how to make his 
wealth run through the generations like the 
Rhine that carries blessing as it turns mill- 
wheels and waters innumerable fields, rather 
than like the Dead Sea, that receives all, gives 
nothing, and with its salty death becomes the 
symbol of all miserly souls. 



VI 
A Benefaction Preliminary to all Others 

By 
F. de Sola Mendes, Ph.D. 

Rabbi, West End Synagogue, New York 

As to the post-mortem benefactions of 
millionaires, the field of human activity which 
has my approval, as a candidate for the 
benefactions of either the living or the dead, 
is that of scientific medical exploration. I 
can conceive of no more useful application 
for the opportunity, the power, the enthusi- 
astic energy, which would be inspired by 
large funds at disposal. The New Medicine, 
with its vast and ramifying revelations of 
germ-activities wholesome as well as baneful, 
seems to cry aloud, in the name of suffering 

112 



F. de Sola Mendes 113 

humanity, for deepest study and widest 
application. 

Not that I would thus have human beings 
essay to ^'eat of the Tree of Knowledge" that 
they may live for ever ^*and not die," but the 
sound bodies and constitutions with which 
God created them have been sorely under- 
mined by centuries of excess and honeycombed 
by neglect and disease. To build up new 
health; to restore vitiated constitutions, by 
strengthening all good germs and destroying all 
evil ones, is, in my humble estimation, a prior 
necessity to any and all schemes of intellectual, 
eleemosynary, commercial, or political philan- 
thropies. I would that the benefactors of 
great wealth might think of this before ordain- 
ing their monetary contributions to human 
welfare. 

The first duty of such men naturally is to 
conserve the comfort and welfare of their 
immediate descendants by bequeathing to 
them just so much as is wise, proper, and non- 
enervating. After that, the care of the greater 
family of humankind should come, in any 



114 Ethical Point of View 

form or fashion that in the wisdom of men can 
be discerned as promising the greatest good 
to the greatest number. And what fulfils 
this ideal better than the medical research to 
which I have endeavoured to point? 

I hold no brief for medicine, my profession 
is a different one; perhaps just therefore my 
inmost conviction may be entitled to greater 
attention. 



VII 

Prolonged Usefulness 

By 

Henry White Warren, D.D., LL.D. 

Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church 

The virile Anglo-Saxon race can plan more 
than it can execute. Hence a million persons, 
mostly manual labourers, come from the 
older world annually to help execute our 
large plans. We carry the artisan's wages 
up to five or ten dollars a day instead of ten 
cents a day as in indolent India, where there 
is little to be done except to raise a little cotton 
for little clothing, a little rice for too little 
nourishment. We do this to get our large 
plans accomplished. 

As the years grow fewer we feel that there 

115 



ii6 Ethical Point of View 

is more to be done for God and His children 
than our time and means can achieve. So 
felt the Christ. Hence He made his will: 
"Not as the world giveth give I unto you? 
Peace I leave with you. My peace I give 
unto you.'* Legacies of infinite preciousness ! 
It is His own influence prolonged. Nearly 
every person can follow His example and thus 
prolong and even eternise his influence. 

This should be done, first, for its influence on 
the giver. It brings great serenity and satis- 
faction to one's days of declining vigour to feel 
that his work will go on through many and 
perhaps all coming years. To give something 
to God makes one feel allied to Him who gave 
all for us. Second, it should be done for the 
benefit of one's heirs. It gives them a per- 
ception that the one they have occasion to 
revere and love had higher aims than mere 
money getting. These gifts to the public 
good should be freely canvassed and made 
known to all concerned while the testator is 
still alive and in health. There will be no 
contest then. The right to dispose of property 



Henry White Warren 117 

is recognised while the earner and owner is 
living. 

Sometimes property may be given to 
legatees in trust for certain clearly defined 
benefactions. How many there are: help to 
the sick; endowments of hospital beds; re- 
wards in schools ; small endowments to faithful 
servant girls on their marriage; a watering 
trough, or drinking fountain; for the best 
acre of corn, or the daintiest front yard. On 
rising higher there are endowments of many 
kinds to educational institutions ; departments 
in libraries; for proficiency in particular or 
general studies resulting in more study at 
home, or by fellowships abroad; lectureships 
or professorships. 

Take an illustration of a wise investment. 
When Professor McCabe of the Ohio Wes- 
leyan celebrated his semi-centennial of teach- 
ing, some one calculated the ntmiber of years 
he had preached by his pupils. Some had 
preached forty years and later pupils ten or 
two. The sum total was over six thousand 
years. Suppose some one had endowed that 



ii8 Ethical Point of View 

chair and thus supported that professor for 
all those years and all the fifty years to fol- 
low. It would have been a wise investment. 
Such opportunities are still open. 

Then of course there is the world-wide field 
of missionary endeavour. This is every kind 
of good to the most needy, hospitals, dis- 
pensaries, schools, medicine, arts, churches, 
and salvation to those who have none of either. 
This not only blesses men but it glorifies — 
makes glorious — God. To have produced 
such children of world-wide benefaction re- 
flects honour and glory upon the Father. 



VIII 
The Higher Law in the Use of Wealth 

By 

David G. Wylie, Ph.D., D.D. 

Pastor, Scotch Presbyterian Church, New York. 

The maxim, "Wealth is power,'' still stands 
and holds good; indeed, never more so than in 
this age, throbbing with energy and thirsting 
for gold ! Wealth has a charm for the average 
man, because it spells pleasure, place, power; 
and, in the minds of many, if not of most men 
and women, is the synonym of influence in all 
the walks of life. Because money is so power- 
ful, it is not strange that many who have 
become rich have a passion, a greed for more, 
and willingly bow and worship before the 
golden calf. 

Wealth has its uses and abuses; but its 

119 



I20 Ethical Point of View 

abuse is no argument against its use or 
possession; and the ''power to get wealth" 
is a talent to be used. We must scorn any 
system of socialism, so called, Christian or 
other type, that makes the accumulation of 
wealth a sin or crime. It is not the possession 
of vast fortunes that we find fault with, or 
complain of, but the wrong use of wealth in 
life or after death. 

The proper use of accumulated wealth in 
life and its post-mortem disposition is attract- 
ing more and more attention from the pos- 
sessors of great fortunes and from publicists, 
thinkers, and writers. This is a gratifying 
fact; for it is certain that if people possessing 
wealth are led to think seriously respecting its 
right use in life and its wise post-mortem dispo- 
sition, many serious problems will be solved. 

Possessors of wealth have a mighty influence 
in their hands for good or evil. If used wisely, 
wealth makesfamiliesunited, happy, contented, 
prosperous, and influential; advances art 
and education; improves the moral condition 
of the community and hastens the hour of 



David G. Wylie 121 

universal brotherhood. On the other hand, 
wealth used unwisely, unjustly, wrongly, 
becomes a disturbing element in home 
life, and often makes members of families and 
relatives oppose and hate each other. This 
being so, it follows that great care should be 
exercised in the present day use of wealth 
and in the making of wills which dispose of 
accumulated possessions. 

This article is written from the moral and 
religious point of view ; and on the face of it, 
the proposition that parents should avoid 
discrimination and favouritism in their dis- 
tribution of wealth to their children in life and 
its disposition after death, holds good now, 
as in the past. Wise parents should learn 
lessons from sacred and secular history which 
shows that favouritism and discrimination 
have produced tragedies in many families. 

It is possible that some objector may seek 
to call a halt in this argimient by asking the 
question. Have not fathers or mothers, if in 
possession of their faculties, the legal right to 
dispose of their possessions as they please: 



122 Ethical Point of View 

to do what they will with their own? Yes, 
the legal right to throw their money into a 
river or to make a bonfire of it ; but the right 
to dispose of wealth should be used with a 
fine discrimination. A father may have the 
legal right to disinherit all his children except 
the favourite around whom his affections 
cluster; but the bestowment of wealth upon 
one child, rather than equally and justly 
upon all, provided the other members of the 
family have not forfeited, by their conduct, 
the respect, confidence, and love of their 
father, is sure to break up family unity and to 
produce malevolent feelings. This being the 
case, a parent has no moral right to dis- 
criminate against his children in favour of any 
particular one who, on account of a fortunate 
disposition, or by skilful methods, has won 
the affection of his father or mother. In the 
bestowment of favours in life and, by will, 
after death, parents should be guided by the 
^'higher law.'* 

What father or mother worthy of the 
name, would be willing to see the members 



David G. Wylie 123 

of his family wounded in their feeHngs, made 
jealous, treating each other like wild beasts 
because of his unjust discrimination in the 
bestowment of affection or money? What 
wise, sane, just father does not shrink from 
the thought of his children standing about 
his death-bed or his grave feeling that they 
have been treated unjustly and burning with 
resentment? The difficulty seems to be that 
many people fail to understand that the be- 
stowment of gifts in life, or by will, upon one 
member of the family is a revelation of affec- 
tion for one as against other members of the 
family; and few things are more certain to 
disrupt families than the suspicion, even, that 
a parent loves one child better than another. 
When it becomes evident that a parent has 
more affection for one child than for another, 
jealousy is sure to break out and to burn hotly 
among the members of the family. Really, 
this seems to have been the difficulty in the 
case of the old patriarch, Jacob, which bulks 
so largely in the book of Genesis. That 
*'coat of many colours" played havoc; for 



124 Ethical Point of View 

the other brothers immediately felt that Joseph 
was his father's favourite and they resented it. 
It is quite possible that there were other 
indications that Jacob had special affection 
for Joseph which may have been manifested 
in many ways; by his desire to have his 
favourite son near him and to have him well 
provided for, even at the expense of his other 
sons. The equal distribution of affection and 
fortune kindles love in the hearts of children; 
the unequal distribution kills love and kindles 
resentment ! History shows that this state- 
ment is a hard, cold fact! 

A man having made provision for his 
children should treat his wife in the same just 
and equable manner. Some men, in their 
wills, fail to make adequate provision for their 
wives. Others dispose of their estates in such 
a way as to put mothers largely in the power 
of their children; others, still, in such a manner 
that the mother's power over her children 
practically disappears. It is thus apparent 
that justice and common-sense should control 
men in the making of their wills. 



David G. Wylie 125 

Having provided for his wife and children, 
it is proper and right for a man, in case his 
estate is ample, to think seriously of the 
demands of charity upon his fortune. Men of 
wealth are under obligation to support the 
great organisations and institutions of society 
by a wise use of their money. In doing this 
one should be guided, not by vanity, or for the 
purpose of exploiting his name, but by a 
desire to create an influence which will be for 
the good of the community. 

And here it may be worth while to suggest 
that a general bequest to charity is not usually 
so beneficial as one for some specific purpose; 
as for example, the alleviation of a particular 
form of disease, or the establishment of a 
home for unfortunate people, or the assistance 
given to a hospital which deals with some 
specific form of work; in a word, some need 
which the testator's experience has shown not 
to have been met by existing organisations, 
or not fully met. 

Summing up, the conclusion is evident that 
parents should be just to their children in their 



126 Ethical Point of View 

gifts during life and in their post-mortem 
benefactions ; that men should be just and fair 
to their wives by making that provision for 
them which will secure their comfort and leave 
them free from the possible domination of their 
children ; that wills should be made only after 
careful consideration, and with the assistance 
and under the direction of a wise legal adviser ; 
and that those who have fortunes to dispose 
of should see to it that the institutions which 
they seek to create or assist are worthy and 
such as will advance the highest interests of 
their fellow-men. 



INDEX 



Accumulation of income, 14, 15 
Adopted children, 46 
Ahern, Maurice, will of, 17 
Alexandre, James J., will of, 17 
Almoner form of charitable 

corporation, 34 
Almstaedt, Rachael, will of, 17 
Astor, John Jacob, will of, 28, 

41 
Astor, William, will of, 28 
Astor, William B., will of, 28 

Benefaction preliminary to all 

others, 112 
Bills, Annie Jane, will of, 17 
Boerum, Agnes, will of, 17 
Brown, Harold, will of, 29 
Brown, John Carter, will of, 

29 
Brown, John Nicholas, will of, 

29 
Brown, Paul Sandstrom, will 

of, 17 
Bruchaeser, Valentin, will of, 

17 

Caldwell, Elizabeth B., will of, 

17 

California, Rule against Per- 
petuities in, 14 



Carnegie Foundation, 33 
Carnegie Institution, 33 
Catholic ethical teaching, 100 
Character of gifts, 54 
Charitable bequests, sugges- 
tions as to, 89 
Charitable gifts, form of, 65 
Charitable objects, selection 

of, 58 
Charitable uses, law of, 36 
Charity and religion, 104 
Charity, purposes of, 58 
Children, rights of, cut ofiE by 

will, 45 
Children, usual object of 

bounty, 44 
Christian charity, 104 
Clark, Nathan, will of, 17 
Cooper, Peter, 33 
Corcoran, W. W., 33 
Cotting, Amos, will of, 17 
Crerar, John, founder of li- 
brary, 38 
Cummings, George W., will of, 
17 

Daughters, protection of, from 

husbands, 47 
Deeds of settlement, gifts 

under, when take effect, 18 



127 



128 



Index 



Deeds of settlement, property 
transmitted by, i8 

Deeds of trust, gifts under, 
when take effect, i8 

Deeds of trust, property trans- 
mitted by, 1 8 

Delay in making will, danger- 
ous, 84 

Discrimination between kin- 
dred, 50 

Eddy, Mary Baker G., will of, 
82 note 

Edson, Mary A., will of, 17 

Egleston, George Washington, 
will of, 17 

Eliot, Dr. Chas. W., observa- 
tions of, 29 

Entailment of property, 11 

Ethical justification of in- 
heritance tax, 94 

Ethical obligations of the 
testator, 99 

Executors and trustees, selec- 
tion of, 73 

Family harmony, preserva- 

i tion of, 49 

Family, obligations to, 21 

Family, plans for, 25 

Family, use of wealth for, 
119 

Fargo, Georgia, will of, 17 

Females, rights of, how pro- 
tected, 47 

Field, Marshall, will of, 13 

Fisher, Joseph, will of, 17 

Foundations after death, 35 



Foundations before death, 32 
Fuchs, Peter, will of, 17 

Garland, James A., will of, 17 
Garner, William T., will of, 17 
General Education Board, 33 
Gifts, character of, 54 
Gifts, kinds of, 19 
Gifts, methods of giving, 19 
Gifts under wills, trust deeds, 

or settlements, when take 

effect, 18 
Girard, Stephen, founder of 

College, 35 
Goelet wills, 29 
Gordon, William J., founder 

of Park, 41 

Hagemeyer, George, will of, 17 
Henry, Mary E., will of, 17 
Higher law in use of wealth, 

119 
Hopkins, Johns, 33 
Hoyt, Jesse, will of, 17 
Husbands, marital rights of, 47 
Hypnotic power of wealth, 108 

Idaho, Rule against Perpe- 
tuities in, 14 

Illegitimate children, 46 

Illinois, Rule against Per- 
petuities in, 14 

Indiana, Rule against Per- 
petuities in, 14 

Infants, protection of, rights 
of, 47 

Inheritance taxes, 68 



Index 



129 



Inheritance tax, ethical justi- 
fication of, 94 
Inheritance taxes reduced, 71 
Instrument of disposition, 76 
Insurance of wills, 82 

Jones, George, will of, 17 

Kennedy, John S., will of, 32 

Lawrence, James W., will of, 

17 

Limitations on power over 
property, 11 

McCabe, Francis, will of, 17 
McComb, J. Jennings, will of, 

17 

Medical research as a charity, 
112 

Michigan, Rule against Per- 
petuities In, 14 

Minnesota, Rule against Per- 
petuities in, 14 

Missions, first bequest to, 31 

Montana, Rule against Per- 
petuities in, 14 

Mulry, William, will of, 17 

Murray, Maria, will of, 17 

Newberry, Walter L., founder 
of Library, 38 

New York, Rule against Per- 
petuities in, 14 

Noble, Dr., will of, 17 

North Dakota, Rule against 
Perpetuities in, 14 

9 



Obligations of testator, 99 
Obligations to family, 21 
Ownership, a trust, 8 
Ownership, obligations of, 8 

Peabody Fund, 34 

Peabody, George, 34 

Perpetuities, Rule against, 11 

Philanthropic purposes, sug- 
gestions as to, 89 

Planning transmission of pro- 
perty, 21 

Plans for family and friends, 25 

Plans for the public, 31 

Plans for public and private 
purposes, 40 

Plant, Henry B., will of, 16 

Power of wealth after death, 3 

Power of wealth, hypnotic, 
108 

Power over property limited, 
II 

Pratt, Charles, 33 

Pratt, Charles, will of, 42 

Pratt, Enos, 33 

Pratt Institute, 42 

Preservation of family har- 
mony, 48 

Procrastination, an unmixed 
evil, 84 

Prolonged usefulness, 115 

Property affected by will, 51 

Property may be tied up, 15 

Property to be transmitted, 51 

Property, transmission of , 18 

Public, plans for, 31 

Randall, Robert Richard, 38 



130 



Index 



Research, medical, as a charity, 

112 

Rhodes, Cecil, will of, 40 
Rockefeller Foundation, 33 
Roos, August, will of, 17 
Roosevelt, James H., founder 

of Hospital, 36 
Rule against Perpetuities, 11 
Rule against Perpetuities in 

the United States, 14 
Russell Sage Foundation, 33 

Sage, Russell, Foundation, 33 

Sage, Russell, will of, 41 

Sailors Snug Harbor, 38 

Saunders, Ervin, 35 

Settlements, 76 

Settlements, gifts under, when 
take effect, 18 

Settlements, property trans- 
mitted by, 18 

Sherman, Elijah T., will of, 17 

Slater, John F., 34 

Snyder, Joseph H., will of, 17 

South Dakota, Rule against 
Perpetuities in, 14 

Stanford, Leland, 33 

Stein way, Christian F. T., will 
of, 17 

Stewart, Alexander T., will of, 
42 

Stratton, Winfield S., founder 
of Home, 38 

Sullivan, John, will of, 17 

Taxation of estates, 67 
Taxation of inheritances, ethi- 
cal justification of, 94 



Thellusson Act, 12 
Thellusson, Peter, will of, 12 
Thomas, Sally, will of, 31 
Tiffany, Charles L., will of, 27 
Tilden, Samuel J., why will 

failed, 35 
Tilden, Samuel J., will of, 17 
Transmission of property, 18, 

51 

Trotter, Charles W., will of, 17 
Trowbridge, George A., will of, 

17 

Trust deeds, 76 

Trust deeds, gifts under, when 
take effect, 18 

Trust deeds, property trans- 
mitted by, 18 

Trustees, selection of, 73 

Tying up property, 15 

Tying up property as estates 
become larger, 25 

Unlawful accumulation, 14, 15 
Use of wealth, under higher 

law, 119 
Usefulness prolonged, 115 
Usual objects of bounty, 44 

Vanderbilt wills, 29 
Vassar College, 42 
Vassar, John Guy, will of, 17 
Vassar, Matthew, 33 
Vassar, Matthew, will of, 42 

Wakeman, David, will of, 17 
Walker, Edward, will of, 17 
Wealth, power of, after death, 3 
Wealth, use of, for family, 119 



Index 



131 



Wealth, uses of, public or 

private, 21 
Wealth, use under higher law, 

119 
Whitefield, George, Jr., will of, 

17 
Wife, protection of, from hus- 
band, 47 
Wife, rights cut ofif by will, 45 
Wife, usual object of bounty, 44 
Will affects what property, 51 
Will as instrument of dis- 
position, 76 



Will, delay dangerous, 84 
Wills, insurance of, 82 
Wills, preparation of, 77 
Wills, property transmitted 

by, 18 
Wills take effect at death, 18 
Wisconsin, Rule against Per- 
petuities in, 14 
Women, rights of, how pro- 
tected, 47 
Wood, Samuel, will of, 17 
Woodruff, Amos, will of, 17 
Wooley, Edward A., will of, 17 



The American Business 
Woman 

A Guide for the Investment, Preservation, 
and Accumulation of Property, Con- 
taining Full Explanations and Il- 
lustrations of All Necessary 
Methods of Business. 

By 

John Howard Gromv^^ell, Ph.B., LL.B. 

2d Edition^ Revised. $2.00 net 

"Mr. Cromwell's book is without doubt one of 
the valuable publications of the year .... 
thoroughly well written and carefully thought out. 
. . . Fascinating as is the subject of mortgages, 
it is necessarily but one phase of the book. . . . 
The book, as before stated, is extremely valuable, 
and will be found a good investment, not only for 
those women for whom it was primarily intended, 
but for many men."-^iV<?ze/ York Times, 



G, P, Putnam's Sons 

New York London 



By CHARLES A. CONANT 

A History of Modern Banks 
of Issue 

With an Account of the Economic Crises of the Nine- 
teenth Century, and the Crisis of 1907 
Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 8vo. Net, Sj.^o 

*' No better volume can be recommended to the general reader 
who wishes to familiarize himself not only with the theory of bank- 
ing, but with the history and actual experience of this great agency 
of industrial progress." — Chicago Evening Post. 

*' We can only express our hearty appreciation of the book as a 
whole. It is extremely interesting. It cannot but be useful, and to 
us it is very cheering. Mr. Conant's book, from beginning to endt, 
is a proof that sound currency is evolved necessarily from the pro- 
gress of an mdustrial and commercial people." — N, V, Times. 



Wall Street and the Country 

A Study of Recent Financial Tendencies. 8®. Netj^ 
$1.25. (By mail, $1.35.) 

'* The author shows a comprehensive grasp of economic and 
financial problems, and the capacity for a clearness of statement. 
. . . His book should be in the hands of all who are interested 
in the important subjects discussed.*' — Wall Street Journal. 

** Charles A. Conant is an able apologist for the functions and the 
riethods of Wall Street. The book is most intelligent and full of 
pertinent information. " — Indianapolis News. 



Q. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

New York Londoiit 



By Arthur Twining Hadley 

(President of Yale University) 

Economics. An Account of the Relations be- 
tween Private Property and Public Welfare. 
Octavo, gilt top . . . net, $2 50 

** No higher compliment can be paid this work than to say 
that it is hard to determine whether the epithet judicial or 
judicious would more appropriately characterize it. . . . 
As a whole, we do not hesitate to affirm that the results 
reached by Professor Hadley will commend themselves to 
candid thinkers as true. ... It will not only be found 
invaluable by readers at large, but will also at once command 
the attention and admiration of economists the world over." 
' — Nation. 

♦♦ It is difficult to exaggerate the wealth of thought and the 
keenness of analysis contained in these chapters. Each one is 
crammed full of matter, presented in an attractive manner, 
illustrated by references to history and to contemporary busi- 
ness methods, and often summed up in some phrase or some 
statement of likeness or unlikeness that is pregnant with sug- 
gestiveness."— Prof. Richmond Mayo-Smith, in Political 
Science Quarterly. 

Railroad Transportation, Its History and Its 
Laws. Crown octavo . net^ $15° 

*♦ Professor Hadley's treatise is no less timely than it is 
valuable. . . . Taken as a whole, the work is the result 
of an investigation no less wide than exhaustive, and one pos- 
sible only to a thoroughly equipped man, familiar with many 
modern languages." — Nation. 

"Every page of the work bears witness to the thorough 
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G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW irORK «^«D^» 



Why War Must Cease 

The Great Illusion 

A Study of the Relation of Military Power in Nations to their 
Elconomic and Social Advantages 

By Norman Angell 

400 Pages. Crown 8vo. $1.50 net. By mail $1.65 

Contents t 

PART I.— THE ECONOMICS OF THE CASE 

1 . Statement of the Economic Case £or War 

2. The Axioms of Modern Statecraft 

3. The Great Illusion 

4. The Impossibility of Confiscation 

5. Foreign Trade and Military Power 

6. The Indemnity Futility 

7. How Colonies are ** Owned '* 

PART 2.— THE HUMAN NATURE OF THE CASE 

1 . Outline of the Case for War 

2. Outline of the Case for Peace 

3. Unchan^in^ Human Nature 

4. Do the Warlike Nations Inherit the Earth ? 

5. The Diminishing Factor of Physical Force : Psycho- 

logical Results 

6. The State as a Person : A False Analogy and its 

Consequences 

PART 3.— THE PRACTICAL OUTCOME 

1 . Armament, but not alone Armament 

2. The Relation of Defence to A^^ression 

3. Methods 

** Mr. Angell throws into the dust-bin the worn-out theories, 
the axioms of statecraft, the shibboleths of diplomats, the 
mouthings of politicastros, as to the necessity for war. Not 
to speak of it flamboyantly, this work is to war and to the 
spirit of the war god the modern Mene, Mene, Tekel, Uphar- 
sin, the flamingly prophetic handwriting on the wall for all 
captains of whatsoever sort who by means of war would keep 
humanity frightened, brutalized, enslaved, and impoverished." 
— St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
NEW YORK LONDON 



iun If £3»« 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



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